A Middle Earth Quest
by Violet Rush
Summary: LOTR-Jurassic Park Crossover. Probably rated too high, but whatever. Rated PG-13 for future character deaths. A LOTR junkie billionaire reads Jurassic Park and gets the idea to create his own park of middle earth creatures. please R&R!
1. An Epiphany

Disclaimer- uhg. I do not own Legolas, or Pippen. I do not own any other LOTR characters. Erg. And the concept behind the park belongs to Michael Crichton. The characters running the park are mine, however.  
  
A Middle Earth Quest Chapter 1  
  
Owen Bridges turned the last page of the book and sighed. Aside from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Jurassic Park was probably the best book he had ever read. What struck him as the most amazing aspect was that it was so well thought out, and plausible. It got his mind racing, thinking that he could do something like that now, in 2017. After all, the technology was so far advanced from when the book had been written that all of the problems the operators of Jurassic Park faced could be easily corrected with the knowledge of today. Hell, he didn't even need extinct animals DNA. With the help of the world's best geneticists, he could take the DNA of any existing animal and mutate it to create his own beings, animals, or whatever.  
  
The idea of creating his own park of genetically altered creatures rapidly began to take shape in his head. He had the funds necessary to create it; all he needed was a place to put his park and people to make it for him. But first he needed to decide what kind of animals he wanted to create. He knew he didn't want to make just another zoo, there were zoos everywhere. There was no excitement in that. He also couldn't do the dinosaur thing either; the book was evidence enough that that was a bad idea. He needed to find something different, something... unique.  
  
He picked up Jurassic Park and carried it over to his book shelf and placed it next to his Lord of the Rings Trilogy set.  
  
Then an idea struck him. He had it! He could create a park made up entirely of Middle Earth beings. He could have a real working society of elves, and dwarves, and hobbits, and maybe even orc's! Then, if he could find a way to do it, he could even engineer some of the beasts, like a cave troll or something. Grabbing a sheet of paper he feverishly began to scribble down lists and idea's before he forgot them all.  
  
Owen Bridges, a thirty-one year old bum, had recently inherited his late father's assets, which amounted to over fifty-six billion dollars. Having grown up in such a wealthy environment, completely free of want or consequences, Owen had never learned to consider the downside to all of his actions. All he cared about was what he wanted and how he could acquire it quickly. So the fact that his idea was very much illegal never occurred to him.  
  
Setting down his pen, he went in search of a world map. Preferably he was looking for a temperate island climate. Middle Earth didn't seem like a tropical a place. There needed to be forests for the elves, rolling hills for the hobbits, and caves for the dwarves and orc's. If need be he could create caves, but the forests and hills should be easy enough to find in a temperate area. Owen got even more excited at the thought of a miniature Hobbiton and Lothlorien in this world.  
  
Owen found his map and rolled it out on his desk and placed paper weights on the corners. He quickly eliminated any of the Hawaiian Islands and anything near Florida. The problem with islands is that they tend to be tropical, or at least below the equator, he thought, scanning around Europe for a suitable spot. After about five minutes, he settled on two places; either Terceira, which was out in the Atlantic sort of near Portugal, or one of the Orkney Islands north of Scotland.  
  
He smiled to himself. It was now time to go do some research, and call his lawyer. He needed to find out how much an island generally cost and he needed his lawyer to draw up a contract. After he had his island, he could begin searching around for people to staff his park, and a contracting company to build it. Besides, if worse came to worse and he couldn't build his park, he would just have his own little getaway island.  
  
Owen rolled up his map again and put away, then headed down the hall to his "office" to call his lawyer. He smiled again; finally he'd had an idea that could actually work. He picked up the receiver and began to dial a number.  
  
(A/N) sorry this is so incredibly short, but I just needed to get the beginning set up. Yes, I know this idea seems a bit dumb, but I was kinda slap happy when I came up with it, and it's a parody, so it's not suppose to be too serious. The next part will skip ahead five years and hopefully it will be longer. But we'll have to see. Please review! Thanks! 


	2. Conversations

A Middle Earth Quest Chapter 2  
  
Disclaimer- I own no Lord of the Rings characters, or the idea behind the park. I wish I did, but whatever.  
  
Suuki-Aldrea- Thanks for your review. And I hope this thing turns out to be good. But we'll see how it goes.

Standing on the second floor balcony of his own private residence, Owen Bridges once again gazed out over his vision brought to life. Five years had passed since he had finished Jurassic Park and gotten his idea for his wonderful park. It had taken five years, a contracting company, a team of highly skilled geneticists, and around 20 billion dollars, but now it was nearly complete. All that was left now was to bring in a full staff, and begin marketing for the grand opening of his park in a year's time. To begin the marketing and advertising process, he was bringing in a couple of people to show off the park, and hopefully get them to endorse him. He had a representative from an American company coming in (he couldn't remember exactly which company it was at the moment) and an actor, Liam Morgan, to be the poster boy and to do TV commercials.  
  
Taking his mind off tomorrows concerns he returned to today's. He was up here waiting on the park psychologist, Melissa Cowan. Three days ago she had introduced two new elven youngsters to the rest of the group, and he wanted to see how they were progressing.  
  
Melissa Cowan, or Mel as she was more commonly called, was fresh out of college and eager to prove she could handle this particular job. Three years ago, when they had first engineered the first successful groups of elves, dwarves, and hobbits, Melissa had been the only one on staff that had had any real experience with babies. So she had, by default, been stuck with the job of babysitting, nurturing, and introducing all of the parks creatures to their new homes. And this was probably why the dwarves and hobbits became very shy around any human but her, and the elves permitted no one but her into their domain. At first Mel had refused, arguing that she was not a nursemaid, but had changed her mind when he had pointed out that this would be an opportunity to put into practice all of the things she had learned in college. The notion that she would be studying babies not of the human race appealed to her.  
  
From behind his came a knock on the door frame. He turned around to see Mel standing there, her long dark curly hair pulled back into a loose pony tail. She was wearing a pair of khaki work shorts and a dark blue t- shirt. She wore no make-up, but then she really didn't need to. Her features gave her a sense of elegance and sophistication without making her truly beautiful.  
  
"Hey Mel," he said politely.  
  
"So," she said conversationally. "You wanted to see me?"  
  
Owen gestured for her to go back into the house, back into his office. "Yes, I wanted an update on the two youngsters you introduced into Lothlorien a couple of days ago," he sat down at his desk and motioned for her to do the same.  
  
"Oh, they are doing just fine. The other twelve accepted them right away. I think they all saw it as something to do. And Larfana and Saurmerethiel, those are their names, just had a ball. They were so happy to meet other people," she said, smiling.  
  
"That's just great," Owen said. At this rate the park would have a full population of elves by the time the park opened. They were going to make so much money. "How long will it take for the hobbit and dwarf populations to reach the same size as the elf populations?"  
  
He wanted to have fairly equal populations for each race that way it wouldn't seem that one population was better, and so the park visitors would get to see as many of their favorite Tolkien characters as possible. Besides, the more of each race they had, the more they could charge for entry and the more money they would make.  
  
"Oh," she frowned. "Well, they are all pretty close now. I mean, there are fourteen elves now, nine hobbits, and six dwarves. Oh, and there is a dwarf and two hobbits in the nursery. I should be able to get them into their homes in about a month. But I –"  
  
"Perfect. But I was hoping to have at least thirty-five of each race by the time the park opens. I want to have a full society of each species for the park guests," Owen said, cutting her off short. "Oh, and do you know how Freddy is doing with engineering the Eagles? I was hoping to have a few of them by the time we open, especially now that we have scrapped the Orc project."  
  
Mel's eyes widened. "Thirty-five? Isn't that a bit much, I mean, pretty soon we'll be having problems with the numbers we have now. We cannot possibly handle one hundred and five elves, hobbits and dwarves!"  
  
Owen's eyebrows snapped together. "What do you mean, we'll soon be having problems?" he asked sharply.  
  
"Well, if you would listen to people instead of hiding up here in your splendid little palace, you would know a little bit about your park," she snapped.  
  
"I do not hide up here," Owen replied, affronted. "What do you mean by that, we'll be having problems?"  
  
"The hobbits are okay, they are all delighted with their hobbit holes there in Hobbiton. But the Dwarves have started quarreling over who digs where and over what they found. We had to separate two of them before they could hack each other to pieces. Then the elves, the elves are bored to death. And they're smart. Very soon they are going to start making trouble if only to have something interesting happening. They are bored to tears sitting there in their forest," Mel exclaimed, standing up and pacing.  
  
Owens stood up as well, trying to comprehend all that the psychologist had said. "How? This is a park," he said quietly. "And we engineered them to not be too bright."  
  
Mel scowled. "Yeah, you engineered them to be that way, but they are a hell of a lot smarter that you thought they would be. And if you would bother to spend any time at all in the nursery, instead of here or down in the lab with Freddy, you would know this. These are sentient creatures, Owen. They need stimulation and entertainment. Just sticking them in their homes and leaving them to play isn't enough. When I agreed to come here, I thought you knew that. But now I'm stuck."  
  
Owen looked pensive. They were so close to finally being done, this kind of problem was the last thing he needed. He needed to figure out a way to keep them quiet and still have his large populations. "Is there any way we can prevent them from getting restless and troublesome?" he asked.  
  
"Yes, give them something to do. If they have something they like to do to keep them occupied, they won't become a problem. Giving the elves something to do will be easier than giving the dwarves something to do." She looked down at her watch, it read twelve thirty. She walked over to the door.  
  
"I have to go, I'm needed in Hobbiton. See if you can find something to occupy the elves, then come find me. I have other things to think about." Then she turned around and left, walking very quickly down the hall.  
  
Owen sat there for a while thinking over all she had said. He went back out on the balcony and surveyed the view. To the East was Hobbiton, apparently the only place where things were not going awry. South of Hobbiton and a little to the west lay the Dwarves mines and caves. Maybe he could have Mel teach them how to build and create, instead of fight. Then his gaze went to the northwest, toward Lothlorien forest, to the elves domain. That was where the real problem was. He walked back inside. Maybe it was time to make a visit to the nursery.

A/N- I was kind of hoping chapter two would be longer than it is, but I couldn't find a way to stretch it out and it not be dumb or overdramatic. I haven't quite figured out the next part yet, so it might take awhile for chapter three to come up. I know at some point someone will go play with babies in the nursery, and at some point I'll do something from the elves point of view, but I don't know when. Anyway. You people need to review more! Pleeeeaaase review!!! Please! 


	3. Hobbit Interviews

A Middle Earth Quest Chapter 3  
  
Disclaimer- I don't own any LOTR characters, nor the idea behind the park...duh, da-duh, da-duh. Oh, and any middle earth names seen from here on out, I got from the name generator on barrowdowns.com. I don't own anything, so don't sue me.  
  
A/N - You people suck... well, not really. I guess this is the crossover section, and not many people frequent this region of FF.net, so I guess few reviews are to be expected. But not even one new one? Whatever. Now all you people who didn't review last time have to review this time, please!  
  
Mel turned and stormed out of Owen's office. She was pissed. She had been trying to tell him his perfect little dream was doomed to fail if he didn't give her charges a task for weeks now, but until this morning's confrontation he had refused to listen. All he cared about was making more money, as if he didn't already have enough, and his stupid population stats, she fumed. Oh, well, she had finally brought the problem to his attention and he had listened to her. It only took me blowing my top, she thought bitterly as she reached the road leading to Hobbiton. She stopped a second and took a deep breath.  
  
"Okay, Mel," she said to herself. "Calm down, it's being taken care of. Calm down, now you have to visit the hobbits. Focus."  
  
Finally she smiled. Visiting the hobbits was always a delightful experience. True to their character selves, they were entirely content, happy, easy-going little things who delighted in eating, dancing, gardening, and blowing smoke rings from their pipes. And the nine hobbits currently living in Hobbiton were all very different in personality, making each visit a unique and memorable one.  
  
Off to her right a nightingale chirruped a greeting to its mate as it flew into the trees. Mel stopped walking; the nightingale had reminded her of something. Turning off the main road, she headed for a storage shed near the maintenance entrance of Hobbiton. She always brought the hobbits gift when she visited them, and this time she had almost forgotten. Unlocking the doors she went inside the dimly lit shed and grabbed the nine items she had left there a week before. Then she left, relocking the door behind her, and headed back to the main road, humming a hobbit tune as she went.  
  
Reaching the maintenance gate, she swiped her employee access badge and entered into the beautiful region of green rolling hills and sweeping gardens. Hobbit holes lined the dirt road she walked on, and lovely gardens of flowers and vegetables growing intermixed grew along the outside of the hobbit's homes. Mel loved Hobbiton more than any other area of the park. It was by far the most beautiful and the most welcoming of them.  
  
When the road turned and began to go uphill, Mel left it and climbed up the larger hill to her right and headed toward a giant oak tree sitting right in the middle of the hill. It was the favorite spot of the oldest hobbits, who would sit under the boughs of the oak and blow smoke rings into the wind and watch the sunsets. And the two youngest hobbits would often shimmy up the trunk and play all day in the branches, playing tag, or keep-away while their "parents" tended the garden or did whatever else. Mel envied them, the hobbits. They were so free, and lived so simply. They grew all their own food, and thought nothing of what they didn't have. It was like a dream, and Mel wanted desperately to be apart of it.  
  
As she crested the hilltop, she saw that Anson Green and Seredic Proudfoot, the oldest of the nine, were already there, sitting under the tree and smoking. Mel smiled to herself, it wasn't even one in the afternoon and they were already at it. The two of them waved and called out a greeting, and she heard two little screams of delight. Then Estella and Dudo, the youngsters, came running over the other side of the hill screaming her name. She dropped down to one knee and laid her gifts on the grass in time to hold out her arms and catch the two young hobbits as they threw themselves at her, laughing. The three of them fall over in a heap, Estella and Dudo giggling and searching her pockets for goodies.  
  
"Mel, Mel," Estella cried. "Where are our goodies? Did you bring us anything?"  
  
"Yeah, Mel," Dudo chimed in. "Did you bring us anything?"  
  
Mel sat up and put her hands in the air as sign of surrender. "Yes, yes," she said, shifting the little ones over beside her. "Of course I brought something. Don't I always?"  
  
"Yes," they both said sheepishly.  
  
Mel stood up and brushed off the leaves and grass stuck to her, and then picked up the fallen gifts. "Well then," she said playfully. "There's nothing to worry about. Now lets go sit under the tree with every one else, where it's nice and cool." The little ones nodded and scampered off to the tree. Following, Mel saw that the other five hobbits had appeared and were waiting on her. She picked up her pace.  
  
A minute later, when she arrived underneath the huge oak, the last five hobbits rose to greet her. Camilla Baker, Mentha Bolger, and Hamson Brown all shook her hand and bid her a good morning. Then Adelard Bushey, the second youngest female hobbit, presented her with a daisy chain. Lastly, Pippen Took wished her a good afternoon, then threw his arms around her waist, as that was all the higher he could comfortably reach. Mel laughed and pried the goofy hobbit off of her and sat down.  
  
All ten of them were silent for a minute, then Adelard ventured a question. "So, what did you bring us this time, Mel?" she asked quietly. Mel smiled and began separating her pile of gifts up amongst the eager hobbits.  
  
"Here you go Dudo," she said, starting with the youngest. She handed him a little paper kite, complete with a ribbon tail and three little yellow, blue, and green bows. Next she pulled out a light yellow stuffed teddy bear with a bright blue ribbon tier around its neck. She gave it to Estella, who grabbed it up and hugged it tightly to her little chest. Mel laughed and patted her on the head, then moved on.  
  
When everyone had their gifts, they all settled down in the shade, and Mel began to ask questions. "So," she said. "How have you all been? Have you had any problems? Any fights? Are you all happy?"  
  
Seredic, the hobbits unofficial spokesman, cleared his throat. "We've all been just fine here," he began. "And we're perfectly happy living here in the hills, making our living from the earth. And we're very grateful to you for all that you've done for us, and for giving us a safe place to live."  
  
Mel smiled. She was relieved to hear that they were still happy. It had been about three months since she had been able to find time to come down and visit them. "Have you had any problems, or complications?" she repeated.  
  
Seredic shook his head. "No, not anything pressing. One of the cabbage gardens started to mould, but that was because Pippen over watered that patch then forgot about it for a week. But everything else is just peachy. We all get along nicely here."  
  
That was good to hear, at least there were no fights, or any bad  
blood between any of them. In a way, Mel felt guilty, and sorry for them, which was the reason she always brought them gifts, and was always so nice to them. The hobbits were so unimposing, and kind, and simple, and she felt guilty for having had a part in their creation. They were more or less engineered animals in a fancy zoo. And on a deeper level it made her sick. She was relieved to hear that they were still content and harbored no resentments towards her. She would have felt personally responsible had they had the same malcontent feelings the dwarves and elves felt.  
  
Mel decided to venture out and seek the answer to the question that had haunted her visit here. "Um, Seredic? I was wondering, if things were to go... wrong, and the elves or dwarves came to you, and asked you to help them overthrow the men of the village down the road, would you help them?" Inwardly Mel flinched, and Seredic looked a little taken aback. He sat there under the tree for a moment and smoked his pipe before answering.  
  
"Why? Is there trouble to come soon?" he asked worriedly. Mel quickly shook her head.  
  
"Oh, no. Well, at least not yet. The elves and the dwarves are not nearly as good-natured as all of you are, and they are beginning to grow discontent. But my question was merely hypothetical," she answered. Seredic visibly relaxed.  
  
"Well, that is not so good to hear," he said slowly. "But I think that we would not help them if we it was an option. Certainly we would do nothing to harm you, for you have been so nice to us. But we have hardly ever seen any of the men of the village. We have no wish to do harm to anyone, we just want to stay here and live." The others around him murmured their agreement. Then the second great weight on Mel's shoulders lifted. She only had to alleviate the discontent among two species, and they only had to worry about two races rebelling.  
  
"Oh good," she said. "I didn't think you all would, but I just wanted to make sure." She paused for a second and smiled warmly at them all. "Now how about we go pack a picnic and have some fun, instead of sitting here and felling depressed?"  
  
Mel's suggestion was met with great approval and Mel and the nine hobbits got up and headed toward the hobbit holes to pack a picnic. An hour later Seredic and company had all forgotten about Mel's somewhat disturbing question under the tree. The group spilt into two teams and began to play kickball. The had a grand old time, until Mel declared, to much protesting, that it was time for her to leave. She had stayed far later than she had intended to, and she needed to get back and tell Owen that they would have no problems with the Hobbits. Besides, she needed to get to work figuring out what to do with the elves to keep them happy. It was time to get back to work, the time for fun was over.  
  
A/N- Hmm. I was going to have another part in this chapter, but the whole hobbit interview got far too long, and would have been at least twice as long as it is now had I put in the other half. So it gets broken up into two chapters, darn. Oh well, hopefully the next chapter is better than this one. Oh, all you who make it this far in reading this have to review now. I told you that at the beginning of this chapter. So right now, go down to left hand corner of the screen and submit a review. You know you want to. Please!!! Stay tuned, the next chapter should be up soon. 


	4. Problems Solved

A Middle Earth Quest  
  
Chapter 4  
  
Disclaimer- Don't own LOTR, or the idea behind the park. Human characters are mine. Don't sue...  
  
Suuki-Aldrea- thanks for the idea. I hadn't thought of music before. And thank you for reviewing. You too, saria1992.  
  
A/N- okay, I had a lot of trouble with getting this chapter to work out the way I wanted it to, which is part of the reason it took so long to get it posted. So bear with me, and tell what you think of it. Thanks!  
  
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Leaning back in his seat, Owen scrubbed at his face with his hands. Mel's spiel had rocked his vision of his park to the foundations. He had worked too damn hard and spent too much money for it all to fall apart now, especially when the problem was such that could easily be handled and eliminated with a little creativity.  
  
Now the hard part was figuring out what would be the best thing to occupy the elves time. Thinking about them, Owen realized that he knew next to nothing about his created races, except for what he knew about their story counterparts. He had been so caught up in getting the park up and running and open to the public that he had left those details to his underlings. He had been down to the nursery a grand total of six times in the past six years, and had visited each species in their respective domains only once. But that was mostly because the hobbits and dwarves grew shy and intrusive and uncomfortable around him, and the elves permitted no one but Mel in their demesnes.  
  
Suddenly, in a fit of frustration, Owen stood up and began pacing about his office. Thinking back to the books, he tried to think of what the elves were fond of. But he quickly concluded that Tolkien could give him no solution to this particular problem. In his park there was nothing for them to lord over, save themselves. But then, they already did that, and they were bored to tears doing it.  
  
Forcing himself to concentrate, he tried to think of things an elf might enjoy doing. Something that would keep them occupied for a long time. Unlike the hobbits, they had no real talent or will for growing things, so agriculture was out. The elves were also too delicate and militaristic for mining and other forms of hard labor. They were also not given to philosophy and religion; they were too practical for that. Nor did they seem the sort to really get into sports. Elves seemed to be very picky people.  
  
Abruptly, Owen left and began walking quickly up the main road. He was headed toward the main building which housed the labs, control rooms, and nursery. Not to mention some other stuff. He needed to speak with his head geneticist, Freddy. He needed his opinion and input. Freddy had a talent for making things clearer and easier to deal with.  
  
Friedrich von Zwiebelsdorf, or Freddy for short, was from Germany, and of not so modest descent. He had graduated top of his class from Heidelberg University, but had since been lost to some obscure American Genetics company. Owen had run into his profile on the internet and found him to be the best match for his park. He was smart, extremely smart, but not famous, which meant that no one would question it when he disappeared for a few years. Freddy also was a huge Lord of the Rings fan, and wanted to keep the species as close to the books as was genetically possible. Now Freddy was as invaluable to his teem as Mel was.  
  
About half way there he was passed by one of the contractors driving out to the latest build site; the aviary still needed some work done. As he passed in his jeep, Owen caught a few measures of classical music, Beethoven is he was correct. Then it dawned on him; music was a past time that required many hours of practice over long periods of time to master and perfect. That would be perfect, if the elves were interested, of course. Stepping up his pace, he sent a mental thank you the contractor that had just past by him.  
  
By the time he had reached the front door, five minutes later, he had thought up about five or six more things that would serve as good occupations of their time. But three in particular stuck out in his mind; music, art, and weapons training. All three took concentration, patience, and hard work to become proficient in.  
  
Reaching the door to the control room marked "authorized employees only", he swiped his ID card and went in. Immediately he found the large form of Freddy sitting at a computer console in the middle of the room. Freddy was, apparently, studying the vital statistics on one of the species. Owen shook his head; Freddy was still trying to make his creations perfect. Owen walked up silently behind him.  
  
"Hey Freddy! Whatcha doing?" he asked rather loudly. Freddy jumped in his seat, and Owen laughed.  
  
"Oh," Freddy said, spinning around in his chair to face his superior. "Just checking the vitals on the dwarves, then I was going to get back to verk on the cave troll DNA. That one is a lot harder then the other three vere. All I had to do vis the other species vas to mutate human DNA till I had vhat I vanted." Freddy had been in the US only a couple of years, so his accent was still very thick. But he had mastered the "th" sound very well, now he only had problems with a "w", they always came out as a "v" sound.  
  
Owen smiled. "Don't worry about it Freddy. You've done a marvelous job already. And thank you for working so hard for me. But could you take a break right now, I need your help on something."  
  
The geneticist raised an eyebrow in confusion, but stood up to follow the other man anyway. Standing up, Freddy was about six feet one inch tall, and had dark brown hair and eyes. He easily made Owen look short.  
  
Owen led Freddy to a private conference room down the hall. He gestured for the German to take a seat, then shut and locked the door behind them. He turned around and fixed Freddy with an ambitious smile.  
  
"So vhat did you need?" Freddy asked, not sure whether he liked that odd smile or not.  
  
Owen sat down opposite him at the table. "Mel came to me this morning and informed me of a problem. I hoped you would be able to give me your input. I also need you to tell me a bit about each race," Owen said.  
  
The geneticist nodded his head. "Sure, I'll help. Vhat is the problem?"  
  
Owen quickly outlined for him the mornings encounter with Mel, and the problems she had brought to his attention. And he told him about finding possible solutions from the contractors.  
  
"That does pose a threat now, doesn't it?" Freddy whistled. "Vhat solutions did you come up vis?"  
  
"Well, the first one I came up with, and I think it is potentially is the best, is to teach them to play music. Classical or instrumental music. They could hold concerts for the guests. And music is something that takes a lot of time and effort to master." Freddy nodded, it sounded like a good idea to him.  
  
"Any other idea's?" He asked.  
  
"Yeah, I have two more. Art, that one is right up the same alley with music. And it gives them something similar to music to do. They could become the artisans of the park. And we could sell the art and make more money. The last one I thought was good were weapons training. We could teach them to make, use, and maintain their own weapons. They are already kind of militaristic. And in the books they were superb archers. That would fit in well with what guests would know of them," Owen had gotten really excited and was now leaned over the table and talking real fast.  
  
Freddy thought about it for a few minutes. It sounded like a good idea. It gave them long term hobbies, and would keep them out of trouble. And it would be fairly easy to teach them, they were fast learners anyway. Freddy knew that, he had engineered them that way. And it did seem to be typical of elves, artsy and good with weapons. The only problem he could foresee was that they wouldn't like music or art or weapons. So he voiced that opinion.  
  
"You might vant to give them all three as options, Oven," he said slowly. "They might all not take to one specific hobby. And besides, if they vere all doing the same thing at the same time, they vould get bored again. You should offer all three ideas to them and let them pick vhich one they vant to do. That vay there is diversity."  
  
Owen nodded his assent, then stood up. "That sounds great. Thanks for your help, and if you think of anything else along those lines, that would be great! I have to go now, I need to find Mel and run this past her. Then I need to get in touch with the people I was going to bring in a couple of months. I need to reschedule." He went and unlocked the door and made to leave, then turned around.  
  
"Hey, if you have time tonight, stop on over and we'll have dinner, Mel should be there too, and the three of us can discuss this in more detail." Freddy nodded, and Owen took his leave, making his way back to his office to call the actors people and that company, the one he could never remember the name of. Owen walked briskly, with almost feverish energy, back to his house. He smiled broadly, today had been most productive indeed.  
  
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A/N- I'm sorry it took me so long to get this updated, but now it's up. And I finally made one that's more than a thousand words! Yea! Oh, and next chapter will jump a head another year. The elves need some time to become masters at their chosen occupations. And soon I will introduce the actor and the company representative. Hopefully things will get more interesting soon. Thanks, and tell me what you think. Please review! The button is just down here on the left! 


	5. Bitter Elves

A Middle Earth Quest  
  
Chapter 5  
  
Disclaimer- I still don't own anything LOTR, or the concept behind the park. Don't sue... I own the human characters. Blah blah blah...  
  
Suuki-Aldrea- I'm glad you liked it, and thank you for reviewing. Your idea was exactly what I needed. I had the hardest time putting that chapter together, and when I read your last review, the light bulb came on and I just wanted to whack myself upside the head. Besides, your reviews are such a confidence boost. Thank you, it helped a lot.  
  
Silver Whirl- I'm glad you approve. And Bethy **would** enjoy that wouldn't she. I'll have to tell her. I'll put astronomy in there, but you have to help me. You're the one that's really good at coming up with the cosmic phrases.  
  
A/N- thanks to the other people who reviewed. This chapter was also hard to put together and I'm not quite sure why. Maybe it's because I want to get to chapter six, but whatever. Here it is. Enjoy, and please review at the end! Thanks!  
  
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Walking hand in hand with an elf child, inside Mel seethed. She was taking yet another young elf to join his kin in Lothlorien, and to choose his lifelong occupation. As soon as he could make it possible, Owen had brought in a weapons master, music teacher, and art teacher. The music and art Mel had no problem with, but she was still furious with him, now a year later, about the weapons training. He had hardly consulted with her on the issue, and only after he had picked his new employees. And she was the one person in the whole park whose opinion in the matter really counted.  
  
She had already gotten into a screaming match with him over it, and she did not care to repeat the experience. She had explained to him, at the top of her lungs, that teaching an already malcontent set of people to use, make and maintain weapons was just asking for disaster. And he had replied, also at the top of his lungs, that this was something for them to do, and that they would be happy for it. Besides, they could always practice with each other and use wildlife passing through their forest as target practice. He hadn't listened to her when she'd tried to tell him that they were smart, and that smart people needed stimulation. Smart people became easily bored. He wouldn't listen when she'd said that they all would soon grow tired of target practice and turn to rebellion again. Only this time when they did it, they would be ten times more dangerous. In the end she had given up and left him to his stubborn dreams. She knew it was all going to come crashing down, and there was nothing she could do about it.  
  
The young elf at her side whimpered, bringing her attention back to the here and now. She smiled at him, if somewhat grimly, trying to make him feel better. She had done this twice already since instituting the tutoring system, and held little hope that this youngster would be any different than most of his cousins. Since they had brought in the teachers, only five of sixteen elves had chosen to devote themselves to the study of art or music. All the rest had eagerly turned to weapons training, especially archery. Owen delighted in this, saying that it would be exciting for guests, but Mel was disappointed. That meant that more of them knew how to cause serious trouble when the time came for it. And Mel was sure it would come, eventually.  
  
Few words were spoken as the psychologist escorted the little elf. They reached the gates to Lothlorien in good time, and entered in silence. They were greeted solemnly there by the whole group of elves, standing in lines and looking very much like a military unit. Mel found it unnerving every time she had to do this. The elves had become very formal, and treated the arrival of a new member as a sort of ceremony.  
  
They were ushered inside and conducted to a building; it was not a house, at the base of a large tree. Once inside, the oldest elf, named Veromen, cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.  
  
"Young elf," he began. "Today we welcome you to your new home, and to join your kin. Boy, what is your name?"  
  
The elf boy trembled as he gave his name. "Airelond, sir."  
  
"Well Airelond, now you must choose your place with us. Our dear friend Mel has told us that it had become mandate that all who live here with us must choose an occupation. You have the choice between becoming expert in Art, Music, or taking up the noble study of Weaponry. Which will you choose?" Veromen fixed him with a penetrating stare, almost daring him to choose anything other than weapons training.  
  
Airelond faltered for a second, and then quickly chose weaponry; just as Mel had known he would. Veromen smiled at him, and then hid the smile away behind a mask of formality. Mel didn't listen past then, she was stuck in her own thoughts, and didn't pull out of them until her former charge tugged on her shirt sleeve.  
  
"Thank you, Mel," he said quietly. And he gave her a huge hug. "I must go now, and so must you. I go now to find myself a place to call my home. Come see us soon, we will be looking for you." With one last look of gratitude, he went to catch up with the senior elves, who were already a ways ahead of him. Mel watched him go, thinking.  
  
Of late all of her visits to Lothlorien were short. Sometimes she wondered if the elves made sure they were that way. Either way, she was unwilling to stay where she was unwanted. Shaking her head, she turned around and left quietly. She had things to discuss with Owen anyway.  
  
At the gate, she met up with Randall, the weapons master. Passing by, she gave him a clod smile and curt nod. He smiled timidly and went on his way. Mel knew it was foolish of her to dislike the weapons master so, but she couldn't help it. She knew he was only here to do his job, and that it was Owen she should be mad at, but this time her unreasonable side won out over her practical side. And on a deeper level she was kind of proud of herself. She had managed to intimidate, with her coldness and grudging formality, the hulking weapons trainer. He was about six foot three, with broad, muscular shoulders and arms. He had hazel eyes and thick, dark, curly hair. Even though she disliked the man greatly, she did concede that he was at least mildly attractive.  
  
She put all thoughts of the weapons master out of her mind as she headed back up the road away from the forest. She had more important things to think about.  
  
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Half an hour later, she was back at Mordor, some one, she didn't know who, had nicknamed the control building Mordor, and it had stuck. Every one knew it was stupid, but the name stuck anyway. And on an odd level, it really worked for the building. Eventually everything would be controlled from this one building.  
  
Owen ushered Mel and Freddy into a conference room down the hall. "Hey," he began, when the door was shut and they were listening. "I am really going to need your help this week and next week. So much so that I am going to have to ask you to put down your work for the next two weeks, alright?"  
  
Mel and Freddy exchanged perplexed glances. "What is going on?" Mel asked suspiciously. She trusted his judgment a lot less these days.  
  
"Well, do you remember last year, right after we decided what to do with the elves—"  
  
"You decided!" Mel cut in coldly. Owen shot her an exasperated look.  
  
"Fine, I decided! Well, remember when I cancelled the tour for that actor and the company representative?" They both nodded. "Well, they are coming back next week. They will arrive here on Monday, and leave around Wednesday or Thursday."  
  
Something clicked in Mel's head. "Wait, this is why you pushed back the opening, isn't it? For these people, right? Why didn't you bother to tell us? We can be trusted, you know."  
  
Owen nodded. "Yes, that is why. I really want the benefit of these people's sponsorship in our advertising. Do you realize how much more successful we can be if we have sponsors? And we are far more likely to win their favor if they can come here and see what we have, doing something other that twiddling their thumbs all day long out of sheer boredom! And I didn't tell you because I didn't feel like hearing you, Mel, tell me that what we have here are people, not zoo animals, and that they don't deserve to be treated as such. Okay?"  
  
Mel scowled. "You're right, that is what I would have told you. And I will still tell you. They do not deserve to be treated like zoo animals, and unlike zoo animals, they know when they're being treated like animals. They are people, and they have feelings. They do not deserve any of this!"  
  
Now Freddy piped up. "Then let me ask you a question. Vhy do you verk here and help Owen?"  
  
"I work here because when I was hired, I didn't know what I was getting myself into, and you had already developed the elves, hobbits and dwarves. You even had a few born. I wasn't about to let you all mishandle them. Would you leave an infant in the care of idiots? "  
  
Freddy frowned. "Then vhy don't you leave?"  
  
"I won't leave. I stay for their sake. If I leave, he'll find someone else who will help him do whatever he wants to do, not what's best for them." She pointed at Owen, who was glaring at her from across the table. Things were finally coming to a head, and he didn't like it one bit. He saw that she had some valid points, but he was committed to what he was doing. None of her ranting would change his mind.  
  
"Will you still help me?" he growled. He knew she hated some of the decisions he had made recently, but he needed her help. He could not pull off the next two weeks by himself. There was too much he needed her to do before the tour group arrived.  
  
She thought about it for a second. "Yes, I'll still help you. I have to, you're my boss, right?" She replied grudgingly. She would help, but things would have to change, and soon.   
  
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A/N- Sorry it took so long to get it posted. I don't like this chapter so much. It started to spin out of my control, and it took a lot of fighting to get to come back to something close to manageable. Hopefully this one is the "bad" chapter. Well, tell me what you think, the review button is just down here on the left. Please review! Thanks! 


	6. Visitors

A Middle Earth Quest  
  
Chapter 6  
  
Disclaimer- Don't own anything Lord of the Rings. Humans are mine. Blah, blah, blah...  
  
Suuki-Aldrea- O, I don't know... Do you think he'll turn good in time? Hmm... he could, or he could not. We'll just have to see how it turns out. Either way, it won't be long now.  
  
A/N- hey, sorry it took so long to get this posted. I was really busy there for a while and had no time to write. It's amazing how much time softball takes up. That and getting myself sucked into the Harry Potter Prisoner of Azkaban game. It's really addictive. Anyway, time to meet new characters! Yea! No longer just the three of them! Well, here goes.  
  
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Standing on the edge of the helo pad with Owen and Freddy, Mel thought over all she had done this past week. It had been a trying week, from start to finish. Owen had delegated to her the tasks of making all the arrangements for their guests stay. She had dealt with the difficult hotel staff, brought in three days before, and made sure they would have all they required. She had also been required to make all the flight arrangements and catering needs. Though what all that had to do with a psychologist's duties, Mel had no idea. But by far the hardest thing she had had to do was explain what was about to happen to her friends. The hobbits had only been confused, but had agreed to let strangers into their home. The dwarves had shrugged it off, saying they didn't care what happened as long as they were left undisturbed to continue mining in their caves. The elves though, the elves had taken the news horribly, which is as Mel expected. She had dreaded telling them. Veromen had told her explicitly that even though they all loved her and were grateful for her help and wisdom, they would, under no circumstances, become the object of someone else's amusement and enjoyment. Of course, she had tried to tell Owen, and of course, he would have none of it. He had dismissed her, saying she would figure something out and smooth it all over with the elves.  
  
Mel was worried. Unlike her two colleagues standing next to her, she knew their creations, intimately. And she knew this visit was not going to go well. She could feel it. She just hoped that somehow, as Owen had said, she would figure it out. She knew she couldn't plead with the elves, they were adamant. But maybe she could talk to Freddy and maybe together, the two of them could convince Owen to leave the elves out of this tour. AT least until Mel could come up with a more permanent fix.  
  
Feeling anxious and antsy, Mel put all thoughts of the elves out of her head. Their guests were due here any minute and it wouldn't do for her to be dwelling on other things when they had people here to entertain. That's all this was really. They were coming here to be entertained, hopefully to the point where they would be so pleased they would agree to endorse the park. Then Owen could begin advertising and finally start the steps to begin opening the park. Opening the park successfully depended on this visit going well. And Mel was the only one nervous about this little tour.  
  
Five minutes later there came the faint sound of a helicopter prop. It was coming from the south, and Mel and Owen and Freddy all turned around. Above Lothlorien was a little dot, the helicopter. Mel looked at her watch, it was 11:30 and they were right on time. They all backed off, giving the helicopter room to land and their guests room to get off. The helicopter landed gently in front of them and the pilot jumped out and hurried around to open the door for his passengers.  
  
Two men, one short one with sandy blonde hair and dark eyes, the other tall and lean, stepped out of the helicopter and looked around. The tall one had nondescript brown hair and steely gray eyes. The taller one stuck Mel as a no-nonsense type of person who knew what he was doing and wouldn't suffer fools. The short one, the one she assumed was the actor, was grinning ear to ear like an idiot as he turned in circles to get a better look around. Finally he laid eyes on Mel, his eyes widened and he tried to covertly check her out. It didn't work so well, and Mel frowned at him, hoping to get him to stop.  
  
Without hesitation, Owen marched up to them and introduced himself. "Hello, sir's, my name is Owen Bridges, and I own the park. Welcome to the Orkney Islands!"  
  
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The tall man shook Owens hand while the short one just smiled even wider.  
  
"Hey Owen," the short one said. "I'm Liam Morgan! I just wanted to thank you for having us come out here. It's really pretty out here, man." Owen nodded and smiled back.  
  
"Well, Mr. Morgan, it's our pleasure to have you out here," Owen replied merrily.  
  
Liam Morgan frowned dramatically. "Whoa," he said. "Please, just call me Liam. Mr. Morgan is my father!"  
  
The tall man took a half step forward. "And I am Caleb Major, from Speedfree Enterprises."  
  
"Well, Mr. Major, I hope you enjoy yourself while you're here," Owen said.  
  
Caleb Major shook his head. "Please just call me Cale. I dislike being called Mr."  
  
"Very well then, Liam, Cale, I'd like you to meet a couple of my more valuable employees. This is Freddy, my head geneticist, and Melissa Cowan, my park psychologist." Mel and Freddy exchanged handshakes and "how do you do's" and "nice to meet you's" with their guests, then stepped back to let Owen do all of the talking.  
  
Cale looked confused. "Mr. Bridges, may I inquire as to why you need a psychologist here in your park?"  
  
Owen smile warmly at him. "All will be explained to you shortly. Let me assure you that. But for now, let's get you two settled in your rooms. Mel," he said, turning to her. "If you will be so kind as to assist them, Freddy and I are needed back at headquarters. Liam, Cale, it is very nice to meet you, and I will see you again later this afternoon."  
  
And with that Owen and Freddy turned and left, leaving Mel there floundering for something to say. She turned to their guests.  
  
"Well," she said, sounding falsely bright. "Let's get your luggage and things and get you to your rooms." Together, the three of them loaded their luggage onto the jeep Owen had been kind enough to leave her. Normally she would just have walked to the hotel, the distance wasn't that great. But somehow it seemed rude to make her guests walk there carrying their luggage with them. She started the engine and drove slowly up the north road toward the hotel.  
  
Cale sat next to her in the front seat and Liam sat in the back, twisting and turning this way and that trying to see as much as he could. She and Cale made small talk until they reached the hotel; that was all they had time for. She put the jeep in park and got out to begin unloading luggage. She had no more gotten one bag off the back than Randall showed up, looking worried. Thankfully, two bell hops came out to assist them, which left her free to talk to Randall without seeming rude.  
  
Randall beckoned her out of earshot of their guests. "Mel," he whispered. "I have been looking for you every where. We have a serious problem." Mel's eyes widened.  
  
"Why? What?" she asked, forgetting her dislike of the man.  
  
The weapons master wrung his hands together helplessly. "I went today to Lothlorien for that new kid's lesson and to check up on some of the others just like normal, right? Well, when I got there all of the elves had barred the gate and met me there and ran me off at bow point. I didn't know what to do, so I came and found you."  
  
"You didn't tell anyone else?" she asked quietly. He shook his head no. Mel thought quickly. She needed to see both Owen and the elves right now, to get this thing settled.  
  
"Okay, I need you to go over there and help those two get settled nicely in their rooms. Do whatever they ask of you, within reason. I need to go find Owen. Just stay here with them. Answer all their questions, but don't mention the elves and the others just yet. I don't think they know what exactly is here and I don't think Owen wants them to know just yet," Mel whispered hurriedly. Then she walked back over to Cale and Liam.  
  
"Gentlemen, I am sorry but something has just come up. It's kind of urgent and I have to leave now. But this is Mr. Randall and he'll help you get settled here, if you have any questions just ask him. I'll see you all later, and I hope you find everything to be satisfactory." Mel turned around and hopped back into the jeep and drove off toward the main building. She would find Owen first, and then deal with the elves.  
  
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Randall watched her drive away and grimaced. He was not exactly the best person for this, but he was stuck so he had to make do. He turned around to introduce himself.  
  
"Hello, my name is Randall. Shall we get your stuff to your rooms?" He didn't know what to say, so he grabbed the nearest bags and motioned for the bell hops to do the same. The company representative had packed light, but the actor had packed like he was taking a month long excursion in the wilderness.  
  
The tall representative dodged ahead and held open the door for Randall and the others. "My name is Mr. Major, and this is Mr. Morgan," he said. He waited until all of them were in the door before he asked a question.  
  
"So, Mr. Randall, what type of park do you help run here exactly?" he asked, trying to catch Randall off guard. Randall thought for second. Mel had said not to mention what exactly was here, but he didn't know how to answer that question without mentioning the elves and hobbits and dwarves. He decided vague was the best way to go.  
  
"Well, we've pretty much got your standard park here. We offer a full tour of the park right now, but later, about when we open to the public, we'll have rides and other stuff here. They'll come on line one at a time about every six months," he answered truthfully. They would have rides, and they did offer a park tour at the moment.  
  
Mr. Major nodded. "Sounds interesting," he commented as they made their way down the hall to the elevators. "So what exactly do you do here, Mr. Randall?"  
  
Damn it, Randall thought, he's going to ask me all kind of prying questions. He's too smart. Randall set his load down for a second as he reached the elevator doors. Mr. Major pushed the up button and waited for an answer.  
  
"I guess you could say that I'm just a park tech," Randall said, taking the vague way out, again. "I work with the people here and make sure everything stays safe, and nothing breaks." It was a half truth, but not a flat out lie. He did, in a sense, make sure everything was safe. He helped keep the elves busy, which helped keep every one else safe. It was a stretch, but there was some truth in what he had said.  
  
The doors to the elevator opened and the four of them piled on. It was a tight fit, with four people and all that luggage, but they made it. They were only going to the second floor, so the ride up was silent. When the elevator beeped and the doors swung open again, they went three rooms down from the elevator.  
  
Here you are, Mr. Major, room 214," he said cheerfully. The nearest bell hop handed him his card key. "And you, Mr. Morgan, are right across the hall in room 215." The second bell hop gave the actor his card key. Randall helped Mr. Major get his stuff in his room, and then turned to the tall man.  
  
"Well here you are sir. I'm sure you'll want to rest and get cleaned up before lunch and before you meet with Mr. Bridges again this after noon, so I'll leave you now. Before I go, do you wish to have lunch here in your room, or would you like me to arrange for you and Mr. Morgan to eat in the hotel restaurant?" Randall asked, eager to get out of here. Mr. Major made him nervous. It was hard to answer his questions when he wasn't allowed to mention the parks details.  
  
"Oh, we'll just eat in our rooms, thank you. But I have a few more questions for you," he said, tossing his suit coat on the bed. Randall smiled.  
  
"I really must be going now, but I can assure you, all your questions will be answered later when you meet with Mr. Bridges and his staff. If you need anything else, don't hesitate to ask. Have a nice visit here Mr. Major," Randall smiled again. And with that he left.  
  
Out in the hall the actor caught him. "Hey dude, is there a beach here or something? And where can I get a bite to eat?"  
  
"Sir, we have no swimming beaches here, but we have a nice outdoor pool. I doubt it would be much in the way of entertainment with no one else here to use it, but you are welcome to it if you wish to swim. As for lunch, I am on my way to arrange with the cooks for lunch to be brought to you in your rooms," Randall answered him politely.  
  
The actor looked disappointed. "Oh, thanks anyway," he said, and went back into his room.  
  
Randall breathed a sigh of relief and headed back to the elevator. On his way out he stopped at the front desk and ordered two meals. Then he left. He had no idea where he would go because the elves refused to let him in and he had nothing else to do. He could go home, or he could go find Mel and tell her he had gotten their guests settled in.  
  
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A/N- wow, that was a lot longer than I had intended it to be. I even cut it short. There was supposed to be another section in here, but I thought it would go better in chapter seven. Ha ha ha, I finally got it posted though. It took a while, between playing Prisoner of Azkaban, and softball games (Yeah, being undefeated!) I had little time to sit down and write. Oh, and bonus points will be awarded if you can tell me where there is a reference to _Catch-22_. It's kind of obscure. Anyway, tell me what you think. Thanks! 


	7. Explanations

A Middle Earth Quest  
  
Chapter 7  
  
Disclaimer- Don't own...Don't sue  
  
Suuki-Aldrea- Suuki, my number-one, bestest and most loyal reader, what would I ever do without you? I can always count on you to review, even if you're the only one, and it makes continuing this story so much easier. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for all your support. And I am so happy to know that I have at least one person who truly does enjoy my story. Thank you!  
  
Saria1992- I guess I do update fast, don't I? Well, now that school is done for the summer, there is much more time for writing, which I am more than happy to do. And you're right; you won't know what happens with the elves till I write it, which, sadly, is not in this chapter. But read on, it will come soon.  
  
Nurikochan- I am glad you enjoy it. And I like your idea with the Balrogs, but sadly, I am too far in now to suddenly add a whole new creation. It would totally throw all the stability and believability I have (and I'm not sure how much of that I do have). Talk about a major plot hole. I really like that idea though. Maybe, when this is all finished, I'll make a little one-shot scene like that and just tack it on the end. That would be funny.  
  
Silver Whirl- Militant elves is a scary thought, isn't it? That's part of the reason they are militant. You know, I don't think Owen is that stupid, to give them firearms. They might get a hold of them somehow, but he wouldn't give them to them. Well, no, maybe having them get a hold of firearms isn't such a good idea. And I think I already killed all the chances there were for cosmic phrases, oops. Oh, and there are no orcs, I didn't feel like messing with them, I thought angry elves and, eventually, dwarves would be enough without adding yet another danger. No, the dwarves won't dig so far that they break into Lothlorien. I think the elves would kill them all. But that could also be a funny appendix to put at the end. I'll keep that in mind.  
  
A/N- whew! Now that I finished responding to all of my awesome reviewers, it's time to get to the story. This time it's not from Mel's or Owen's point of view, yea! Fresh idea's, and a new personality to look at! Sorry, I was hoping to get to some action, so far there has been a lack of it, but it just didn't work out like I had planned. Well, here it is, enjoy. And let me know what you think, and beware! It's long!  
  
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After finishing his exquisite lunch; tender, juicy filet mignon, with crisp tasty baby corn, and a sweet bowl of fruit salad, and two piping hot, buttery biscuits, Cale sat back to wait. When the pushy "park technician" had blown him off and run off, he had known he would get no answers until he and the actor were summoned to this meeting later with Mr. Bridges and his associates. Instead of getting frustrated and pacing and being angry, which would do him no amount of good, he pulled his book out of his travel bag. He stretched out on the bed and began to read.  
  
Ironically enough, as he would soon find out, the book he had brought with him was The Lost World, sequel to the book that had inspired the park he was visiting. Michael Crichton, along with such authors as Tom Clancy, Clive Cussler, and others, were on his favorite authors list. Of all that Crichton had written, Jurassic Park and The Lost World were his favorites, closely followed by Timeline. Caleb Major was an avid reader and enjoyed nothing more than settling into a comfy chair in the evening and losing himself in a good book.  
  
It was a good thing he'd brought his book with him, as it was several hours before he received a phone call saying someone would soon be there to pick him and the actor up. Thinking of the actor, Cale grimaced. He couldn't believe he'd been stuck on this trip with that dope. The airplane and helicopter rides had been hell. The man talked incessantly, and about the stupidest and most trivial things imaginable. He had spent the whole trip here jabbering on at Cale about another young actor's new haircut and sense of style. And all through this afternoon he had heard loud and horrible singing coming from the room across the hall. Cale was disgusted; Liam Morgan, at least in his eyes, was a waste of human existence.  
  
Ah, but there was no help for it, he was stuck. He got up off the bed, put his book away, and slipped on his shoes. As he walked out his door and down the hall, many questions made their way into his head. His company was already an investor in this whole deal. He was here to investigate and help his company decide whether or not to openly endorse the park. Cale was a little perturbed with Mr. Bridges for keeping them in the dark, but he guessed he had his reasons. For all he knew, the man just wanted it to be a surprise; Bridges did seem to have a flare for the dramatic. Either way, it didn't matter now, for the blinders were about to come off. Cale would make sure they came off.  
  
With a polite nod to one of the helpful bell hops by the door, he went outside to wait for his ride. He didn't wait long. A couple of minutes later, Mel came driving up in her keep. She wore a tight smile on her pretty face, but it was just a thin veneer that barely concealed the grim determination within.  
  
Cale hopped in the front seat and murmured a polite greeting. Mel ignored him, instead looking around for the actor. "Where is he?" she asked bluntly, not bothering to specify who "he" was. Cale shrugged.  
  
"I don't know. I assume he got the same call I did. He should be out here soon," he said absently.  
  
Putting the jeep into park, she scowled and hopped out of the car. "He had better be walking down that hall," she said as she disappeared through the double doors. Cale chuckled to himself. He didn't know this psychologist very well, but he could imagine the look on her face when she confronted the actor.  
  
Sure enough, a couple of minutes later they came out of the lobby; Mel rolled her eyes in exasperation, and Liam scuttled along behind her looking very sheepish. Mel climbed back in the driver's seat, and Liam hopped in the back behind Cale. Without a word, they took off along the North Road. As soon as they cleared the hotel grounds, the trees and underbrush seemed to close in around them on all sides. Trees and shrubs grew right up to the roadside, giving the area a scenic, but foreboding feel. The effect was such that even the light seemed to dim around them.  
  
Before he could get his bearings, they burst through the brush and trees and pulled up in front of a massive, three story building. It was shaped like a giant, wide, and angular "w", and had no windows on the first floor, only a double set of steel doors on the point of the "w". I was constructed out of a nice, warm brown material and seemed to be quite secure. Though what it needed to be secure from, Cale had no idea.  
  
Mel pulled up in front of the double doors and shut off the engine. "Well sirs, welcome to Head Quarters, the main building, or what some employees have admiringly called 'Mordor'," she said dryly. The actor snapped back to reality from wherever he had let his mind wander.  
  
"'Mordor'?" he asked, confused. "Like the evil place from the Lord of the Rings movies?"  
  
Mel nodded. 'Well, I'll be damned', Cale thought snidely, 'the man does have a brain cell or two.' Then he frowned. Why on earth call it Mordor? Mordor, in the books and movies, had been a place of evil, power, and control. How did that apply to a park building?  
  
He was going to ask Mel about that, but she had already swiped her employee access card, and the steel doors were swinging open. So instead he just followed her inside.  
  
The inside looked just like any old office building. There was neutral colored carpet on the floor and comfy looking chairs positioned around the reception desk. An extremely bored looking receptionist sat behind her desk, filing her nails. Cale was somewhat unimpressed.  
  
Mel ignored it all and took off at a brisk walk down the hall to the receptionist's right, beckoning them to follow her. She wound them through hall way after hallway, up an elevator, and down yet another hallway. Finally they came to a door marked "Authorized Personnel Only". Mel swiped her ID again and opened the door for them. Waiting inside were Mr. Bridges and the man named Freddy.  
  
Cale strode inside confidently, taking in the details of the room. There was a large conference table in the center, an overhead system in a corner and wood paneling along one wall. It was to most drab conference room he's ever seen.  
  
# # # # #  
  
Mr. Bridges extended his hand for a handshake. Cale took it again; there really was no need for one though. They had already met; this was little more than a formality. He waved them all into seats around the large conference table and made to start on a grand speech. Cale cut him off, he had had enough of grand speeches, and he wanted answers. So, showing a rare seen impatient side, he asked the first question that popped into his head.  
  
"Mr. Bridges, let's cut to the chase, please. We are all the same as we were four hours ago. Please sir, excuse my rudeness, but we are a little perplexed here. Just what kind of park are you running here?" he asked shortly, hoping he hadn't offended his host too much.  
  
But Mr. Bridges only smiled. "Well, since you are so adamant. I had a presentation set up, but as you said, let's just cut to the chase." He stood up and a pressed a button on the wall. The wood paneling on the front wall slid out and up, tucking itself neatly into the ceiling and revealing wide windows that over looked a control room of some kind. There were banks of computers everywhere. They lined the walls and formed neat rows all the way down to a large movie theatre style screen on that front wall. There were no more than fifteen people sitting at various consoles around the gigantic control room, staring at screens, checking stats, and working at other various tasks.  
  
Cale was still not impressed. "Mr. Bridges, this is a control room. Every park has one. You still have not answered my question. What kind of park do you have here?" he asked again, this time with an impatient edge to his voice.  
  
Owen sighed. "We do not run an ordinary park here, Mr. Major. Everything here is state of the art, and we spared no expense. We have all the best laboratory equipment and some of the world's finest geneticists. Freddy here graduated top of his class at Heidelberg University in Germany. And everything you will see here is all authentic."  
  
He broke off his speech and pressed an intercom button on the wall. "Dave, bring up the visual on the caves please on the big screen," he ordered. Then he sat back in his chair again. Cale grumbled to himself. Obviously this man was not the type given to bluntness. He turned his attention to the large screen in front of him, shaking his head.  
  
The screen lit up and the picture changed from an overhead view the island, to a dimly lit cave full of toiling men. They were very hairy me, very short men. In fact, they didn't look so much like men at all. Liam, who had been sitting quietly next to Cale suddenly shot up out of his chair.  
  
"I know what those are," he exclaimed excitedly. "Those are dwarves! Like from the Lord of the Rings movies. They look just like them!"  
  
Cale raised a skeptical eyebrow, ready to dismiss that right away. But Mr. Bridges smiled hugely and nodded his head at the actor. "Very good, Liam," he said happily. "They are dwarves. Genetically engineered dwarves, but dwarves just the same."  
  
Suddenly it all clicked in his head. 'Mordor', dwarves, a team of geneticists, a park psychologist, it all made sense. But he wasn't sure if he believed it. "Wait," he said slowly. "Are you trying to tell me, however subtly, that you have a whole park here of genetically engineered book characters?" He wasn't quite sure he wanted to know the answer to that question.  
  
Owen nodded again. "That is precisely what I am trying to tell you," he exclaimed. "But they aren't book characters, they are fully functioning Middle Earth species. And we don't have just dwarves. You'll actually get to see them all tomorrow or Tuesday. But for now, we'll just stick to the basics of the park."  
  
It was almost too much for Cale. "You mean to say you've got a whole island of people living here, engineered people? Just how many species do you have? How do you keep them here? How did you do it?" Cale asked, the questions flying out of his mouth before he could even decide what to ask next.  
  
Owen chuckled. "Whoa there. One at a time. Yes, we have a whole island here of genetically engineered races. There are three of them, humanoid one's at least, we've got one not humanoid species and another in the works. We have a society of elves, dwarves, and hobbits, all living peacefully in separate habitat-like compounds. As to how we did it. Freddy can explain it to you, or we can show you some of it," Owen explained, taking each question in order.  
  
"Both," Cale replied. "Explain it to me here, and then show me the lab, or whatever."  
  
Freddy scooted up the table and adjusted his tie. "Very vell then," he said, taking on a professional like air. "It is quite simple really, provided you know the basic genetic makeup of whatever it is you want to manipulate. And that is all this was, genetic manipulation. Ve took human DNA, and simply started playing around vith it. Ve have here a machine that can digitally produce an image of vhatever it is you have created, it gives you a physical image along vith a list of physical capabilities. All of our creations are as close to the real thing as it is possible to come, but they are not perfect. The only thing this machine cannot tell you is the mental capacity and capabilities of your creation.  
"So I simply began playing around vith genetic combinations that vere fairly close to vhat I vanted. I stopped vhen I had the right combination for all the physical capabilities of an elf, dwarf, and hobbit. They vere fairly simple to engineer. It vas a much harder process to actually create the individual beings. Engineering the non-humanoid creations vas much harder. It vas much more of a challenge to engineer the giant eagles than the elves, etc."  
  
Cale remained quite, soaking in all the German had said. He didn't claim to know anything about genetics, but it seemed fairly straight forward to him. As he sat there thinking of his next question, Liam, who had until this point been listening with mild interest, piped up.  
  
"Hey, you said you have elves here?" he asked. Owen nodded. "Does that mean you have some hot elf chicks here as well?" The actor smiled widely to himself, thinking about something. Cale rolled his eyes, he was pretty sure he had an idea along which lines those thoughts were.  
  
Owen raised his eyebrows. "Yes, a little less than half of the elves here in the park are female. You'll probably see them tomorrow." The actor smiled to himself again, but by now they were all ignoring him again.  
  
"I have a question," Cale started. "Just how smart are these beings?" He wanted to know about the morality of keeping such creations in compounds like common animals in a zoo. Were they smart enough to fend for themselves? Or were they dependant on Owen and his park for survival? It would be wrong and illegal to be keeping fully mature people as virtual prisoners for the profit of others.  
  
Owen smiled again, this time a little less enthusiastically. "Originally they were all supposed to have the average IQ of ,say, a five year old child. That way we could teach them to do certain tasks, but they would still remain dependant on us. They turned out to be somewhat smarter than intended," he said, hedging around something.  
  
Cale was about to ask just how smart were they, when Owen cut him off. "What say we go take a tour of the lab now? It truly is fascinating. Then, if they are still up, we can visit the nursery. Mel, what do we currently have down there?" he asked quickly.  
  
She scowled. "We still have a hobbit, and a dwarf. I introduced the elf a week ago, remember?"  
  
"Ah, yes, very good. What say you two?" he asked. Cale nodded and Liam stood up to go.  
  
"Sure, sounds good. But why do you need a nursery? Aren't they all able to reproduce themselves?" he asked, this question more directed at Mel. She shook her head.  
  
"No, they aren't able to reproduce. It is a way for us to exert more control, and keep the population from booming out of control. We grow them here, then introduce them into their society when they reach the maturity level of about five or six. Shall we go down to the lab?" she went to open the door. She was tired of this already.  
  
Owen motioned for Freddy to lead the way, and they all headed back down the hall. It was not far from the conference room to the lab. Freddy and his crew did an excellent job of explaining things in greater detail for their guests and showing them exactly what Freddy had tried to explain in the conference room. They spent nearly an hour down there going over details and genetics and DNA. It wasn't until Liam complained about being bored and wanting to play with the little "hobbitlings", that they left the lab.  
  
By the time they had gotten to the nursery wing, all the lights were off and the door warned them all to be quiet. Owen asked Mel if she would go in and wake them up for his visitors to see, but she refused. She did not want to deal with cranky hobbit and dwarf babies. Frustrated, Owen called it a night and had Mel run his guest back to their hotel, but only after he promised them they could see the babies in the morning.  
  
That night Cale got comfortable in his bed to read again, but this time was much more satisfied with the answers he had received.  
  
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # #  
  
A/N- that was a really quick ending, I know. But it was running long and I needed a good way to end it without leaving a cliffhanger. And for any science fanatics, I do not profess to know anything about genetics, I am taking the cheap way out and saying that this is in the future (remember- 2017) and they could do any of this. Sorry. I really don't like saying that, but sometime or other I was going to have to confront the mechanics behind it all. I just hope I didn't screw it up too much. 


	8. Begining the Tour

A Middle Earth Quest  
  
Chapter 8  
  
Disclaimer- I do not own Lord of the Rings or Michael Crichton's idea. Don't sue...  
  
**Suuki**- Cool, I didn't know about all that, the Chimeras and such. That makes me feel a lot better. I'm not really into the sciences, so I just kind of went with a dumbed down version of what Crichton used in his book and what I thought would work. I'm like you too; I don't think all of that is moral either. You know, Mel actually wasn't supposed to take this moral stance she seems to have taken. She wasn't supposed to become Owen's enemy in this; she just kind of spiraled out of control and made herself this way. But I like her better this way. She's a more interesting character and a better character this way. Funny how characters will take on a life of their own, huh?  
  
**Shido**- Yay! You finally got around to reading my story! Did you like it? I know you said it was interesting, but did you like it? Oh, and chapter three of your Harry Potter fic was really good, by the way. Sorry I didn't review it, but it was late and my parents kicked me off the computer. I'll review chapter four, provided you update it again soon! hint, hint  
  
A/N- Whoops! Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter posted. I worked on a chapter for my other fic, and that took forever. Then I started on this one and I got writers block. It figures. Well, anyway, here's the next chapter.  
  
**Oh, I almost forgot. I'm sorry, but this will be the last update until after September 1st.** Tommorow I will be playing host to a German friend of mine with no attention span and an addiction to being outside. She won't let me sit down at the computer long enough to get a chapter typed out and posted. I should be able to write them, but not post them. But that means, hopefully, after the first week in September, there should be lots of updates! Well, thanks for your patience and here is Chapter 8, for real this time!  
  
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # #  
  
Cale woke up to the sound of the phone ringing shrilly in his ear. Groggily, he reached over and picked up the ear-piece and put it to his ear.  
  
"Hello," he said.  
  
"Good morning, sir," someone said cheerily on the other end.  
  
"Who is this?" he asked, momentarily forgetting where he was.  
  
"This is David, sir," the man answered. "At the front desk. Mr. Bridges asked that we give you a wake up call, sir. He would like to get the tour started early this morning."  
  
Cale sat up so quickly he almost pulled the receiver off the night stand beside him. "Well, thank you David," he said, now far more awake than he had been a minute before. "I'm awake now." Then he hung up the phone and got up out of bed. He pulled the day's clothes out of his suitcase and entered the bathroom. He did his usual morning routine in record time. He took a quick shower, brushed his teeth and hair, and got dressed in twenty minutes.  
  
Before he left for the lobby, he looked at himself in the full length mirror that hung on the inside of the bathroom door. He was dressed practically in khaki shorts and a plain light blue polo shirt. He had on worn tennis shoes and high socks. His nondescript brown hair was brushed neatly, except for one spot on the side of his head where he had slept on it funny. So he went wet his comb and forced it under control.  
  
He gave a quick little smile at his reflection, then turned and left his room. He went straight to the lobby, once again ignoring Liam. He knew this was probably not wise, but he didn't want to associate with the dumb actor any more than he had to.  
  
Not wanting to sit inside with the staff watching him, Cale went back out front to wait in semi-seclusion on the park bench there for his ride. In due course the actor showed up and took a seat beside him; the staff must have given him early notice so he would not be late, again. They sat there in uncomfortable silence for a moment, before Liam broke the ice.  
  
"Beautiful morning isn't it?" he asked, looking up at the sky.  
  
Cale nodded. "I guess you're right. It's not too hot, nor too cold, for early fall in the British Isles," he agreed, eyeing the trees on the edge of the parking lot. Their leaves were just beginning to turn orange, brown, and yellow.  
  
They were spared from further idle chit chat when Mel came driving up in her jeep. Cale gave an inner sigh of relief, partly because he no longer had to converse with Liam, partly because her arrival meant it was time for the tour to start, and partly because it was her who had come to get them. Cale found that he rather enjoyed her company. And he admired her independent and slightly cynical nature, not to mention she was extremely easy on the eyes. Unlike most other women, Cale also found that she was easy to talk to. He didn't become uncomfortable or nervous around her.  
  
She flashed them a huge smile as they got up and went to join her in the jeep. She appeared to be in much better spirits today.  
  
"So," she said as Liam climbed into the back. "You two ready for your tour?"  
  
"Yup," Liam answered. Cale only nodded.  
  
"Good. We're going to go straight to the tour. We'll visit the nursery later. The little one's are still asleep, and it's not wise to wake them early." She put the jeep ion drive and took off, once again heading up the North road toward Mordor. Her mood must have affected her driving, because it took a little longer for them to reach the control building than it had the night before when she was angry.  
  
# # # # #  
  
When they arrived at Mordor, there were a couple of SUV's waiting for them. Mel parked the jeep, and they all climbed out and made their way over to the waiting SUV's. They found Owen and Freddy waiting for them on the other side of the waiting vehicles. Mel quirked an eyebrow, puzzled. She hadn't thought Owen was coming on this trip. She had thought he was leaving the work to herself and Freddy, again.  
  
Oh, well, it didn't matter now. She nodded a greeting to him, and smiled at Freddy. Mel was no longer worried to death about the morning's tour. After their guests had returned to their rooms last night, she had gone to Owen again about the problem with the elves. They had come close to another yelling match, until Mel had given in and listened to Owen. She had, at his insistence, gone back to Lothlorien and managed to persuade the elves to allow their small group to visit them in their homes and talk with some of them. It was a small compromise, not nearly what Owen had wanted, but enough to satisfy the curiosity of their guests. The hard part was keeping both parties on their best behavior while poking around Lothlorien. One slip or one insensitive word could prove disastrous with the proud elves.  
  
Mel left off her musings as Owen began talking.  
  
"Well, gentlemen," he began cheerily. "We're going to start here in a minute. I don't know if Mel told you, but we'll visit the nursery later, the little tykes are still asleep. First we'll go through the Shire and talk a while with our hobbits. They are very accommodating people, and I'm sure they'll answer any questions you have. So, if no one has any questions, or a pressing need to use the facilities? We'll be going."  
  
And with out further ado, they piled into the SUV's. Freddy climbed into the driver's seat of the first one, and Liam joined him in the passenger's seat, while Owen took the back seat. That left Mel to drive to second vehicle, and Cale to join her, by himself. Mel smiled. Now she could hold an intelligent conversation with some one she didn't detest.  
  
The SUV in front of her started to roll forward as she turned on her engine. This time they headed down the East road. All the main roads on the island ran to Mordor, Mordor was pretty much the heart of the island, with everything else built out around it in a circle. The Shire was to the east, the Mines to the west, Lothlorien was in the south, and the guest accommodations were in the north. There were other building and places scattered around, and each had their own maintenance roads, but ultimately all roads came back to Mordor.  
  
Despite the small size of the island, everything was spaced quite a bit apart. It was perfectly reasonable for the Mel and the other staff to walk from one section to another, but it was just far enough that it would seem rude to make guests do so. Mel preferred walking; it was how she got her daily exercise. When the park was ready to open for guests, there would be some form of transportation in place, whether it was horse drawn wagons, or an old fashioned trolley type system. That detail hadn't been worked out yet; Owen couldn't make up his mind which he liked better. For the interim they were just using jeeps and SUV's.  
  
"So, Mel," Cale said tentatively as she pulled out onto the road behind Freddy. "Just how many of each species do you have? That didn't get mentioned last night. And Freddy said that you've only had them for three years. They can't be very old or self sustaining if the oldest ones are only three years old."  
  
Mel grinned. It was a very good question. That aspect hadn't been discussed last night along with every thing else. "Well, we have eleven Hobbits, twelve with the baby in the nursery. There are nine dwarves, and that includes the one in the nursery, and sixteen elves. Freddy is right, we've only had successful species for three years, but they don't mature at the same rate as normal humans. And we couldn't make them do that anyway. It would take too long for them to mature to the point where we could let them live on their own. And we very well couldn't stick infants in tree houses unattended, could we? No, they all mature at different rates actually. The elves grow the fastest, and the dwarves the slowest. That's why there are so many elves and so few dwarves. By the time I introduce the elves into the larger society, they are the equivalent to a thirteen year old child. I keep the hobbits and the elves in the nursery for the same amount of time, about nine months. That's another of Freddy's little tricks. I couldn't tell you how he does it."  
  
Cale's jaw dropped. She kept them in the nursery for nine months and the elves grew to be virtually thirteen years old! Ah, the miracles of modern sciences, he thought. "So, about the hobbits, at what rate do they grow?" he asked. Mel followed the SUV in front of them through a turn onto a new road. Her explanation had taken quite a while; he guessed they were almost there.  
  
"They are only about seven or eight when I take them to the Shire. The oldest hobbits there now would be forty or so if they were human, but they act like old men," she said. Now she slowed down. Freddy had come to a stop in front of a huge gate and he had gotten out and was swiping an ID card. The gate swung open and they proceeded through.  
  
# # # # #  
  
A/N- sorry about the very long wait for an update. And sorry about there being no content whatsoever to this chapter! I had to break up this chapter into two, other wise I wasn't going to get it up in time. As I said, I probably won't get much of an opportunity to update until after September 1st. I have about half of the next chapter written (because it was supposed to be in this chapter), so there is a small chance that I can finish it and get it posted early, hopefully. I'm really bummed that I couldn't get it in this chapter, it was going to get fun soon! pout, pout. Anyway, tell me what you think, and please excuse the cliffhanger! I had no other choice, there wasn't a good place to stop! Thanks!!! 


	9. Hobbiton

A Middle Earth Quest

Chapter 9

Disclaimer- again, I do not own Lord of the Rings, and most likely never will. And Michael Crichton can keep his idea. It's a good one, but I don't own that one either. Sigh, why is all the good stuff already taken?

**Suuki**- I am so glad you liked it! Since there is absolutely no content in the last chapter at all I was afraid you were going to think it was crap. I'm trying to make there be a little something there, but you know, I've never actually been successful making couples in my stories. I'll try, and any tips you have would be greatly appreciated.

**Aranel3**- He he he. I guess the summary does lend itself to silly mental pictures, doesn't it? You're tight though, the elves do take the place of the Raptors. Though I don't think their elven pride would allow them to do the head bob thing. That would be pretty funny though; seeing Legolas holding his arms like that and bobbing up and down. I thought I put it somewhere in the authors note in chapter two, but yes, chapter two is set five years ahead of chapter one.

A/N- This chapter didn't go quite as planned. It seems that the characters aren't exactly on the same page as me, so they made it as difficult for me as characterly possible to finish the chapter. It came out in somewhat of an uneven compromise between what they wanted and what I thought I was writing. Well, tell me what you think. If you all like what the characters came up with better, tell me and maybe I'll give up authorial control to them. Maybe they'll do a better job.

And without further ado, here's chapter 9! Enjoy!!

* * *

Slowly the SUV's rolled through the open gate. Rolling hills sprawled out before them and Cale admired the view. You could almost come here to admire the scenery alone, he thought to himself. They came to a stop in a flat space near the gate and Mel turned off the engine.

"Well, here we are," she said, opening her door. Cale mimicked her action and got out of the car. A small breeze whipped through his hair, bringing with it the fresh scents of a nearby garden and the trees around them.

"As I told Liam a minute ago," Owen started, the three of them joining him and Mel, "this is primarily going to be a hands on, walking sort of tour. Life for the inhabitants will go on as normal, just with people walking around, poking into places, asking questions, and such. Of course, we'll ask people not to get in the way, or interfere with whatever the hobbits and such are doing. And there will be tour guides walking around with them, making sure no one starts a commotion and to give details about the park. It's all very fascinating. Shall we start?" He began walking along the path in front of them, which wound its way around the nearest hill.

The other side of the hill revealed smaller hills, all with little green round doors with handles in the center of them in each one. There were mini-white picket fences separating vegetable patches from flower gardens, and hobbits hard at work tending them. There seemed to be a lot of them, though he knew their to be only eleven here at the moment. From some hiding place in front of them scampered two little hobbit children, giggling and screaming, as a hobbit woman chased them around. Cale laughed. The simplicity of it strongly reminded him of the Amish communities, which sadly now were few and far between.

His sudden laughter had brought attention to their presence, and now all the hobbits ceased whatever job they were working at, and turned to stare at the group. Even the hobbit children stopped running and screaming to stare at the new comers, a bit frightened. Then they saw Mel and they screamed anew. They launched themselves at her and she had to take a step forward and get down on her knees so they wouldn't knock her into him. She gave them both huge hugs and kisses and tickled them a bit before standing back up, a tiny hobbit child resting on each hip.

"Mel, Mel, what'dja bring us this time?" they asked, the girl stuck her hands in Mel's pockets. She put them down.

"I'm sorry guys," she said. "But I don't have anything this time. I didn't have time to find anything for you. I've been really busy lately. But I promise I'll have something extra special next time I come." Their faces had fallen, but now they smiled again in anticipation. Mel turned to the hobbit woman, who was frowning slightly.

"Estella," she said warmly. "How is everything?"

Estella drew Mel aside. "Who are these people? Why are they here?" she asked quietly, though Cale could just hear her. Mel turned and looked back at the four of them standing there.

"Oh, Estella, I'm so sorry. I've been so busy these last few weeks that I completely forgot to tell you all. Owen, I know he doesn't come here often, but he has company for the next few days. And he wanted to show his guests around. I informed the dwarves and elves, and they didn't like it. But I completely forgot to tell you all. They mean no harm, and they won't interfere, I promise. They just want to walk around and talk to you all; they are quite interested in you," she whispered back earnestly.

Estella visibly relaxed. "Forgive me for asking, Mel. It's just that you've never brought others here before, and we did not know what to make of it. That and we do not like Owen; he makes us nervous, he's always poking into private matters," Estella turned to Cale and the rest and smiled.

"Good morning gentlemen. My name is Estella, and welcome to the Shire," she said.

Cale smiled back, "Thank you Estella. I am Cale Major, and this is a very lovely place." Liam introduced himself next, and Freddy and Owen bid her good morning politely; she already knew who they were.

From there, Owen and Freddy just wandered around talking to each other and mostly ignoring the hobbits who had, by now, gone back to work. Mel too went her own way; she headed up a hill toward a massive looking tree, where Cale could just make out a couple of figures. That left Cale and Liam to do as they pleased, as long as they didn't get in the way. The two of them looked at each other, and then shrugged.

Cale decided to just walk around and look for himself. He headed down the path, trying to see where it ended. It went on quite a ways, perhaps three-quarters of a mile, before it dead ended in another gate, similar to the one they had entered through. Having found the end of the path, he turned around, and went off to explore in a different direction, and mingle with the hobbits. He came back to his starting place and went in roughly the same direction Mel had gone.

He paused every time he came upon a hobbit at work and asked a few questions. He asked what they were doing, if they liked living here, if they were treated well, and other general niceties. It was interesting for while, but he received the same answers from every one he met, and they were all a bit hesitant to talk with him. He even asked for a brief tour through a hobbit hole, and though he was obliged, it was with deep reservations. It was as if the hobbits were not used to having outsiders walking among them.

He crested the top of a large hill to find a couple of middle aged hobbits sitting and smoking beneath the giant tree he had spied earlier. He made his way towards them, but it was a ways farther than he had thought. When he reached them, he was slightly short of breath.

"Eh-hem," he cleared his throat, trying to politely get the attention of the older hobbits. But they did not so much as glance his way, but kept on ignoring him completely as they blew smoke rings and took drags from their great pipes. Cale frowned. He leaned forward slightly and asked quietly, "Umm, sirs? Would you mind terribly if I joined you here on this marvelous hilltop for a moment?"

The hobbit sitting closest to him looked up and smiled. "Why sure, lad. We'd be happy to have you. What be your name?"

Cale sat down and leaned against the huge tree. "My name is Cale, sir. I'm here with Miss Cowan," he smiled at the middle aged hobbit and offered his hand in greeting. The hobbit looked at him funny, then blew another smoke ring. Cale put his hand down, then cast his gaze out across the landscape, admiring it. "Quite a beautiful place here. Very peaceful," he said, making small talk.

The hobbit next to him nodded. "Aye, that it is laddy. That it is. My name's Anson, by the way. And this here be Seredic." Cale murmured a quiet "nice to meet you" and then went back to his gazing. They sat there in peace and quiet for a good while, admiring the view, before Cale ventured a question and broke the silence.

"Sirs, would you mind terribly if I asked a few questions?" he asked quietly. Somewhere overhead in the boughs of the tree a songbird chirped a greeting to its mate. Anson smiled at him and said, "Why sure, go ahead and ask. We've no secrets here."

"Sir, I was wondering, how long have you all been here? The landscape seems very worn, almost broken in, and you all seem to have gotten yourselves into a very comfortable routine. It looks to me like you've been here a goodly amount of time," he said. Anson looked at him companion and quirked his eyebrow, thinking.

"What do you think, Seredic? 'Bout how long we been here?" The other hobbit took a drag on his pipe and furrowed his brow considering the question. Finally he came up with an answer. "Oh, neigh on thirty seven moons now." Then he blew another smoke ring and left the rest of the talking to Anson.

Anson nodded. "Aye, almost thirty-seven moons now. In that amount of time a body can get a good amount of work done. He can nearly shape the fields to what he wants. We're a hard working people, us hobbits. We like the simple life, no gallivantin' off on insane adventures for us. Just a quiet town, with good neighbors, and a good days work ahead of us is all we need."

Cale made a quick conversion in his head. Thirty-seven month's was three years and one month; that wasn't a very long time. "Anson, sir, are you all happy here? I mean, that's a long time for _you_, and your community hasn't grown much. Don't you get lonely, or wish there were more of you?" Cale asked them. It had to frustrating and lonely, only seeing about fifteen other people every day.

The hobbit looked at him thoughtfully before answering. "You know, Mel is the only other person who's asked us that." Anson took a long drag on his pipe and let Cale think what he wanted. He blew a particularly large smoke ring, then continued. "We're very happy here. Like I said, it's quiet here, and we're left mostly in peace. As to our community, it has grown, quite a bit actually. Every three to six moons we foster orphan hobbits from other villages around. Mel brings them to us and we welcome them as our own. We've seen babies grow to become successful adult hobbits, and we've seen old hobbits like myself pass on. There's enough stability here to keep things from seeming hectic, and there are enough new faces that it doesn't get boring or tense. And truth be told, I'd rather this place stay kind of small. The more people the less you get to know each other, and the more impersonal the community becomes. Here it's very friendly."

While he listened to Anson speak, Cale's mind raced. So they thought their young were fostered orphans? Cale was appalled that Mel would outright lie to these people. He could see Mr. Bridges, or even the geneticist concocting such a story, but he found it hard to believe that Mel would willingly go along with it. But maybe that was it, maybe she didn't want to lie to them but had to, for their sake or her job's sake. But, then again, given the simplicity of their natures, maybe Mel and the others had determined that telling them they were manufactured people would be too much for them to handle. Cale certainly wouldn't be comfortable around people he knew had created him from a test tube just to make money off him. That thought didn't sit well with him at all, for that was, in a nutshell, what all of the staff at the park were doing. But then, this dilemma also begged the question, how had they explained away the "native" hobbits inability to produce babies of their own. Cale decided that he was going to have a talk with at least Mel here soon.

Cale, who had only been half-listening to the hobbits impromptu speech, was about to ask another question, one he hoped had nothing to do with whatever Anson had said before, when he heard his name shouted. He looked up to Mel waving her arms at him from the top edge of the hill. She motioned him to follow her, and Cale stood up and dusted himself off.

"Well, sirs, I thank you very much for talking with me and sharing the shade of this magnificent tree," he said warmly. "I am afraid it's time to go. I hope I get the opportunity to speak with you again." He offered his hand, and they shook it. Then he nodded them a farewell and set off in the direction of Hobbiton proper. Outside, he hoped, he looked calm and quite content, but inside his anger was rising. He had his perfect opportunity to speak with Mel, and he had no intention of passing it up.

* * *

The end of the road found a lot of Cale's anger diminished. As he came around the bend, he found Mel, Owen, and Freddy all standing in front of the vehicle's laughing hard. What they were laughing at, he didn't see till a moment later. They were all laughing at the actor, who was sitting on the gravel, trying desperately to fend off the little hobbit children, who were wailing at him not to go and trying to attach themselves to his arms and legs like little burrs. Estella, their caretaker, just stood off to one side, a slight smile graced the corners of her mouth.

Cale nearly lost it, and had to kneel down himself before he fell over, laughing. When he had enough control over himself that he could speak, he shouted at Liam to stand up. The actor's face brightened, as though he had never thought of this, and he managed to push the children away just long enough to get himself to his feet. At this, Estella called the children off, and they reluctantly trudged over to her. Cale got up and made his way over to Mel and the group, shaking his head.

"Those two are going to be trouble when they get older," Mel said, as she watched Estella take them back into town. He nodded his agreement. Liam waved goodbye, and all of them started to pile back into the vehicles; it was time to move on. Mel pulled out her keys, and made her way around to the driver's side of the second SUV.

"So, what did you talk about with Anson and Seredic?" she asked as she unlocked the doors. Cale's anger came rushing back at the mention of t he old hobbit, though not with the intensity it had before. He climbed in and bucked up, then slammed his door shut.

"Oh, we talked about quite a bit," he said with a hard edge to his voice. "I have some questions for you."

* * *

A/N- Whew! I finally finished this chapter!!!!!!! Yea!!! Sorry it has taken soooooo long to get this up. But like I said, I had my german friend with me for all of August. It was so frustrating. I had half of this chapter written for the whole month of August, and I could never find the time to finish it. Yea!! Well, tell me what you think. Thanks!!!


	10. Storm Breaking

A Middle Earth Quest

Chapter 10

**Disclaimer**- Once again, I do not own LOTR- if any one thought that they must have mistaken me for a dead, long-winded man, which I am most certainly not. I also do not own the concept behind the park. That would mean that, again, you have mistaken me for a man.

**Suuki**- Hey there! Thanks for your review and your comments! Unlike me, I don't think Mel is as ungraceful as that to allow herself to fall into his arms, but if worse comes to worse, I guess they could do that. Mel would be very unhappy with me if I made her do that, but she wouldn't have a choice. I think I made a step in the right direction here in the beginning of this chapter, but I'm not sure. It makes me laugh though. If you have any more bright ideas, tell me! I would love to hear them!!

**A.Troll**- Yea!! New Reviewer!! glomps I am very happy to hear that you think this is interesting. I thought this would be a new kind of crossover, not a clichéd one that has been run into the ground cough, HP/LOTR, but anyways. Thank you, and I look forward to hearing from you again, that is, if you want to.

**A/N**- I just wanted to issue a general apology to all you out there for how long it took to update. Huh, I just looked at the story, and I just realized that I last updated on the 4th, god September drug by. I swear it felt like it had been two months since I last updated, oops it has been! Anyway, my apology still stands. Now I will quit babbling and get on with the story.

Enjoy!!

* * *

Mel hopped into the driver's seat and started the engine.

"Oh, really?" she asked calmly, pretending not to notice he was angry. "Shoot!"

Cale, who was a little taken aback, deigned not to ask his question, preferring instead to insult her. "I find it hard to believe that you, _Miss_ Cowan, would stoop to lying to your precious little hobbits! They are people too! They have a right to know that they were created by you and Mr. Bridges, and that geneticist!" Cale had not yet buckled up, and that fact was the only thing that kept Mel from slamming on the breaks. As mad as she was, she couldn't have people flying through her windshield.

"Whoa, whoa, wait a second! You have no idea what you're talking about!" she all but screamed at him.

"Really? I know that they think all the new hobbits that come in are orphans from other villages. I know that they have no clue why they're here with you people looking after them. I know they haven't figured out they can't reproduce on their own."

If it hadn't meant driving off the road, Mel would have slapped him. "First of all," she said severely, defending herself. "I had no hand in their creation, any of them. I was hired a year after they were started here on the island. I had no idea what I was getting into. Second, I am a psychologist, not a full time babysitter! And do you honestly believe that I like having to lie to them?! I think of them as my children.

"And how would you take it if someone you loved and trusted suddenly told you that you were created by someone who wanted to use you to make money and that you were a veritable tourist attraction, like caged animals in a zoo? That your very existence was to provide entertainment, at your expense I might add, for a paying customer who did not care what happened to you, so long as they got their money's worth? Much as I despise myself for it, it is far better for their mental well-being if they remain ignorant of those particular facts!"

Cale became very quiet; whether it was due to the fact that he hadn't thought of those aspects before or due to her zeal, she didn't know and didn't exactly care. Having vented her spleen, she kept driving, waiting for him to speak. He was quiet for some moments, and the silence between them became almost unbearable.

Finally, as they approached the Mines, he spoke up. "I didn't think," he said quietly. It wasn't exactly an apology, but Mel sensed it was the closest thing she would get to one. He continued, "So how did you plan on handling that? You know, when they start to ask you questions, or when Mr. Bridges decides it's time to open this place to the public?"

Mel thought about it. Truthfully, she hadn't yet broached this problem. She knew she would have to, but she had put it off for some time now. "I'm not sure. I have been thinking about it, and I was hoping I could come up with something that they would believe. At least for the hobbits and the dwarves. They are either not intelligent enough to believe me, or they don't care enough to question me. I hate having to lie to them, but at the same time I can't tell them the truth. In these matters, I've been going with the lesser of two evils."

Cale nodded. "I know what you mean, and I don't envy you the position you're in." He paused for a moment, thinking. "So what're you going to do when this place opens? Are you going to leave and find somewhere to set up a practice?"

Mel shook her head vigorously. "No! I'm going to stay here and look after them. Would you leave your kids with some stranger?" She wasn't going to tell him that she was not about to leave them all in Owen's clutches. He really didn't care what happened to them, as long as there were more of them and they made him money.

He didn't bother to answer her question, and she hadn't really expected one.

* * *

A moment later they rounded a curve and they came upon the Mines. She parked the car and they piled out. Of the three land based regions on the island, this was her least favorite. The Mines and surrounding lands were all gray and bleak. The path that led to the cave mouth led straight into a crevasse, man-made of course, and into the looming dark maw that was the cave mouth. Mel sighed; the area was just so ugly on the outside.

She walked to the back end of the SUV and rummaged around in the back until she found some torches. Owen, in his obsession to keep things as authentic as possible, had declared that there be no artificial lighting; so they made do with torches and sky lights (wherever they were practical). She lit one and passed the others around, using hers to light the others.

After a moment of torch lighting, they started off for the gaping maw.

Mel and Cale came out of the Mines ahead of the other three. Mel doused her torch and placed it back in the compartment it normally dwelled in. Cale, who did not have a torch, leaned against the SUV with an expression on his face that told her that he was sort of bored. She could tell he had thought the visit to the dwarves mines had been the same experience with the hobbits, only in a different place and with a different people. But she couldn't blame him; the dwarves cared nothing for anything but their mines.

At about this time, they heard the echoes of conversation emanating from the cave mouth. Sure enough, the conversation preceded the arrival Owen, Freddy, and Liam. They were laughing and joking about something. As they approached the vehicles, Owen called out to Cale.

"So, Mr. Major, what did you think of the Dwarven Mines?"

Cale shrugged. "I found them fascinating. Though I think I would become claustrophobic if I was in there too long." Owen seemed to think that an acceptable assessment, for he laughed out loud. He clapped both Cale and the actor on the back.

"Shall we move on?" he asked, not waiting for an answer, but moving to the passenger side door. Everyone took that as his or her cue, and they loaded back up. The ride to Lothlorien was pleasantly quiet, their previous argument forgiven and forgotten.

As drab and unimpressive the Mines had been; Lothlorien was just the opposite. Cale was amazed that this one little island held such a variety of habitats; from rolling hills, to rocky, craggy Mines, to lush forests. For that's what Lothlorien was, a forest with giant untamed trees. They drove through the gate, which didn't look so much like a gate as a pass through located conveniently between the overhanging boughs of some particularly large oak trees, and into the welcoming space inside the forest.

Of course, Cale realized as he exited the car, the island was probably altered to fit what Mr. Bridges wanted. The knowledge that it was man-made did nothing to diminish the wonder Cale felt as he walked about, smelling the pleasant aroma of dried leaves and clean air.

No sooner had they exited the vehicles than they were approached— and approached was the right word, rather than greeted— by a small group of elves. Cale was awed, yet again; these elves so closely resembled those from the award-winning movies it was uncanny, or just a demonstration of today's technology. They were all tall and fair of complexion, and all had blue eyes, except for one pretty brunette whose eyes reminded Cale of light colored emeralds. It was a common feature of theirs to have high cheekbones, and finely arched, perfect eyebrows that flawlessly conveyed emotions. Each of them was garbed in tunic in shades of russet, gold, and green, presumably to help them to blend in with the forest. One thing he noticed was that none of them seemed particularly happy to see them. He also noticed that none of them was without a bow and quiver full of bolts.

When the pretty brunette glared at him, Cale realized he was staring. He quickly shifted his gaze to take in the surrounding area. The forest also greatly resembled that from the movies; it seemed Mr. Bridges was being blunt about the nature of his inspiration. There were great spiraling staircases from which to gain access to the canopy level, where all the dwelling places seemed to be. As more of a convenience, rather than trekking all the way back down to the ground level and back up another staircase, there were beautifully carved connecting bridges from one tree to another. Cale looked up and saw a lone elf, standing in the middle of one such bridge, watching the newcomers with a look of utter disdain on his face.

Cale quickly looked away. This place was beautiful, but hardly seemed friendly. Finding no better place to look without risking being glared at, Cale found himself looking at the other members of their small group. Owen and the geneticist looked completely calm and casual, even as they waited for someone to speak first. The actor, Cale glanced his way in time to see him conspicuously checking out the pretty brunette elf. Cale rolled his eyes. Did the man ever give it a rest? Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the brunette was not oblivious to Liam's overtures, though she was doing her best to pretend she was. Then he looked at Mel. She was standing a little behind Mr. Bridges and she looked nervous. She was standing there twirling a lock of dark brown curls in her fingers and her eyes were darting from the elves to the elf on the bridge above them and back to their little group. She was obviously worried, and that made him nervous. If she was really as close as she claimed she was with the elves, why, or he should say what, was she afraid of?

But he had no more time to ponder this troubling question; the envoy had decided to address them.

"Welcome," a gray-haired elf, who was apparently the leader, said. "Welcome to Lothlorien."

While the elf was addressing the group, he was looking right at Mel. Obviously he expected her to stand up and be spokeswoman for their group, but she looked far to nervous to do it. Owen saw this and hastily stepped up to her rescue.

"Thank you, kind sir," Owen said smoothly to the elf. "We are glad you welcome us so warmly to your wonderful wood."

Cale listened to this exchange of pleasantries and nearly snorted. Even he could see that they were anything but welcome here, and that the greeting was anything but warm. He had never liked this kind of political charade; the trading of compliments when nothing but antagonism was felt between the two parties. He had never understood the need to appear to be friends when everyone around knew them to be enemies.

"It is our pleasure. We are honored to think that you consider our humble wood a place worth touring and showing off." The comment was directed at Owen, but again he was looking at Mel. His eyes glittered with something akin to righteous anger. It was particularly fierce, and Cale wondered what the psychologist had done to arrange this tour, and why it so ticked off the elves. He glanced back at her; she was looking guiltily at the dark soil at her feet.

"Oh, nonsense! It is absolutely beautiful, you should be proud to call it your own." The elf bristled with "pleasure" at the compliment and lowered his head, hiding the expression on his face. Cal e grimaced inwardly, this dance of compliments and jabs was getting to be too much for him; if the tour didn't start soon, either the elf or Owen was going to lose his cool.

When he had control of his expression, the elf lifted his head and suggested, "Shall we start? I do not want to interfere with any other plans you may have today." Cale breathed a sigh of relief. "I only ask," the elf continued, "that you please respect the privacy of our people. We four are here to answer any questions you may have, but please refrain from interrupting anyone else while they work. We value our privacy, and do not lightly take being disturbed." With that said, the four elves turned around and began walking down the path. The five humans followed a few paces behind.

This tour was unlike either tour thusfar. It was very structured. They kept too the path and were not allowed to wander. The only dwellings they entered were those of the envoy, and were empty of people. In fact, they only passed one or two other elves at all.

All the while they walked and explored, the lead elf, who still remained nameless, narrated to them on the lifestyle of and elf. Some of it was quite fascinating, but other bits reminded Cale strongly of early nineteen-nineties science teaching video's, in which the students supposedly learned, but more often than not served as a great sleeping aid. Cale did have to admit, though the lecture was rather dull at times, the scenery was breath taking, especially from the canopy level of the forest. Between the beauty of the foliage itself and the intricate architecture, Lothlorien could easily have been considered heaven.

Towards the half way point of the loop— that's all the three areas were, a large loop of homes and surrounding habitat— Cale noticed, out of the corner of his eye, the actor sidle up to walk beside the brunette. Cale watched him for a moment or two, to see what the man was up to. When he didn't do anything, he turned his attention elsewhere. The man wasn't hitting on her, or doing any harm. And he had a right to walk where he wanted to. Cale turned back to the tour.

By the end of the tour Mel had calmed down considerably. She was no longer flicking her gaze between their guide and the group of humans every few seconds. Though perhaps, Cale thought, her earlier nervousness could have been nerves of excitement. Perhaps she was really looking forward to showing off the showpiece of the park. It sounded mean to say, but that's all they were. The hobbits and dwarves were like sideshows, there only to prove that the park was indeed about The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

* * *

Cale decided not to worry about it. They were almost done here, and he was getting hungry. They were standing back at the rendezvous point from earlier, attempting to make awkward thank you's and goodbye's.

By this time Mel had recovered her voice enough to become the spokes person for the group, instead of Owen.

"Once again, thank you for your hospitality. You all have been very gracious in allowing us into your homes," she said sincerely.

The gray headed elf bowed deeply and smiled at her. "You are most welcome. You were wonderful guests, all of you."

Cale sighed quietly. This was the same exchange they had made in the beginning, only more warm-hearted. Only half truths were being uttered, instead of whole lies. At this point Cale lost interest. He looked around him one last time at the beauty of the forest. But as he looked around his eyes came to rest on Liam.

The actor was trying his best to inch around behind the brunette's shoulder without being observed. The man's eyes were focused on a spot above her waist and just below her chin. Cale narrowed his eyes, what was the man up to?

As if in answer to his unspoken question, Liam leaned in real close to her ear and said, in a voice just above a whisper, "Hey baby! What do you say you and I go make ourselves a distraction?" Then, to make matters worse, he kissed the curve of her pointed ear and pinched her lightly on the behind.

Obviously Cale was the only one watching, for no one else noticed the brunette go real stiff and pale with shock. When she registered what had taken place, new emotions flashed across her face. Anger swept by, only to be replaced by fury. She whirled half way around and struck him, hard, across the face with her open palm.

The loud crack made by her hand connecting with his cheek turned heads their way. They watched confused as the brunette drew a dagger from some hidden pocket with lightning speed and advance on the dumbstruck actor. All she had time to do was take a step toward him before a voice rang out from above.

As one, nine heads turned skyward, searching for the hidden speaker. Cale was the first to spot him; it was the elf from before, still standing on the bridge between trees.

"Mel," he bellowed. "I agreed to allow your people in here on the condition that they leave my people in peace. You have broken your promise! Out! I want you all out now! Even you, Mel, are no longer welcome in my forest!" He turned his back on the five humans.

Cale glared at the actor, who was still backing away from the brunette. In one stroke he had ruined all the good will they had built up in the past two hours. He had completely shattered the situation.

Owen took a step forward and opened him mouth to protest, no doubt to inform the elf that _he_ owned these woods. But before he could get a word out, Mel grabbed his arm.

"Come on," she urged. Then she added in an undertone, "It's not a good idea to argue. They have weapons and we don't. I told you it was a bad idea to force them into this."

Reluctantly he obeyed. The five of them scrambled into the two vehicles and took off, heading for the hotel. As soon as Mel's car had cleared the gate, it was slammed shut behind them and bolted in place.

Cale once again found himself sitting in silence with an angry Mel. She made an exasperated and determined noise in her throat and glared at the car in front of them, the car Owen was in. Cale then realized that whatever had had her nervous two hours ago had indeed happened.

And somehow Cale got the impression that this was only the beginning.

* * *

A/N- Eee! I apologize once again for the delay in posting chapter 10, which is really the second half of chapter 9. I also apologize for the mini cliffhanger and the use of the clichéd line "it was only the beginning", but it seemed to fit. And once again, thank you very much for your patience with me. This chapter didn't seem to want to write itself, and neither did I. Anyway, I would love to know what you think, and as always, Thanks!!!!!


	11. Tirades and Plans Made

A Middle Earth Quest

Chapter 11

**Disclaimer**- Perhaps, in the time between this post and the last post, if I had become wildly rich, I could have bought the rights to Tolkien and Crichton's work. But, sadly, there was no such luck for me. So, to you really confused people out there, I am not an old dead genius, or a really cool Chicago writer, and I do not own their stuff.

**Suuki**- I'm glad you think so! It makes me feel so good. And thank you for trying to think of ideas; I'll admit I'm having trouble with those at the moment too. But I still think that the only thing I'll need help with is figuring out how to hook up Mel and Cale. Any way, as usual, thanks again for your lovely review.

**A. Troll**- Thank you very much for your awesome review! And you made a good point. Kaza Dum would not be a boring place to visit at all; I would find it rather fascinating. But I couldn't come up with a good way to work that into the story, or the dwarves themselves really. They just don't play that big a part, and I needed a way to move the plot along while still having the people tour that area. Perhaps, if I can think of a plausible way to do it, I could do something with them later, or after the story is over. I've already had people give me great ways to parody my own story, and I think it's great. Maybe I can add that to my list.

**A/N**- well, here's the next installment. Terribly sorry it took so long, but Nanowrimo tends to suck up the entire month of November. Anyway, here goes!

* * *

Owen, Freddy, and Liam were already there and waiting for them when Mel and Cale reached the hotel parking lot. She parked sloppily in the spot next to them and got out of the car. Slamming the door shut she rounded on Owen.

"You!" she snarled. "Why couldn't you listen to me? I told you they weren't going to go for the idea in the first place. But you made me push! Why won't anyone listen to me?! You blew it! There's no point in even opening the park now. They will not cooperate." She quite yelling long enough to take a breath, before starting in on the actor.

"And you, you couldn't listen to the guide long enough to hear that they wished to be left alone? Are you so horny that you can't leave the first female you see alone? You were lucky she didn't kill you. What use are you here anyway?" Mel was so angry she couldn't get a grasp on the words she needed. She whirled around and pointed a finger at Freddy, who flinched, and found there was nothing to say to him. Everyone was quiet in the wake of her wrath. Mel stood there, in the center of the group of men, trying to get a grasp over herself.

After a moment Cale spoke up. "Um, if I may? What is going on here?" he asked slowly. Owen opened his mouth to answer, but Mel cut him off with a glare.

"This trip never should have happened. You two shouldn't be here. When _he _scheduled this little escapade, he asked me to inform the hobbits, dwarves, and the elves that we were going to have "visitors" and that Owen would take it as a personal favor if they would open their homes to you. The dwarves and the hobbits said it was fine, but the elves refused. As their numbers grew, they grew more and more secretive. It got to the point where they could only stand my company for a few hours at a time.

"I told Owen to cancel the tour, because they wouldn't cooperate, and he told me it was too late. I had to negotiate with the elves for weeks before they reluctantly "agreed" to let you all come in. And there were the conditions, the biggest one that Mr. Brilliant Actor over there couldn't abide by. And thanks to those two's stupid decisions, this park it a multi-billion dollar waste," Mel finished her explanation and leaned on the bumper of her SUV. She crossed her arms over her chest, practically daring Owen, or anyone else, to say otherwise.

Owen took that dare. "Now wait here!" he spluttered, turning red faced. "This is not a waste. You can patch things up with the elves. And isn't it your fault for not spending enough time with them that they became that secretive? Don't you go blaming all this on me!"

Mel nearly exploded again. For a minute she looked like she was going to start another tirade, but then she began to laugh.

"My fault? My fault," she laughed harder. "How, in god's name, is this _my _fault?"

Owen searched for an answer.

"That's what I thought. And how could I have spent more time with them with the amount of work you shoved off on me? And how am I supposed to fix the hardwiring problems our genius Freddy over here put into them. I do not have control over their minds. And it's not my fault that the rest of the personnel decided that they weren't worth the time to visit.

"And there is no way to fix the problem this time. After his little stunt," she waved her hand at Liam, "there is no way to get them to forgive us. They won't even listen to me now. They think I betrayed them. " She chuckled again and shook her head. "All that time, money, and hard work, and in one fell swoop you've destroyed the legacy of your father's condiment empire."

Owen found his tongue this time. "I have not spent all this money and time to let you tell me that it's over from one mistake! We'll just delay the opening, get rid of the elves here now, and start over. Freddy can re-engineer them and fix that need to be secretive and spiteful. It'll only take about three more years, and that'll give us time to tweak things here and finish the aviary."

Mel's eyes flashed. There really was no arguing with the fool, but she felt it only fair to warn him. "Even if there was a way for you to kill them all, I wouldn't let you. But as it is, I won't bother."

Owens expression soured and he glared at her. "And why is that?" he asked sarcastically.

"Because, o brilliant one, it was your idea to give them weapons. You armed them, taught them to use those weapons, and taught them how to make them. If you want to know how good they are, ask Randall. He can tell you," and with that she turned and got back into the car. Owen turned red again.

"Where are you going?"

"Home," she called out the window, backing up out of her spot. "I suggest you send Randall to see what their reaction is, now that they've had time to think it over. They don't hate him."

* * *

Owen watched her go, seething. Certainly things couldn't be as bad as she thought it was. They just had to figure out what it was the elves wanted, and placate them that way. That was one thing Owen had learned a long time ago; everyone could be bribed.

As mad as he was at her, her advice was sound. He would Send Randall over to inquire as to what their price was. But now he had to figure out what to do with his guests. He couldn't take them with him, and they probably wouldn't want to be left here by themselves. Liam and Cale didn't get along that well anyway. He put his polite and friendly mask back on and turned to them.

Cale was standing off to his right, a troubled look occupying his face. Liam was behind Freddy, face ashen. He looked to be in some kind of shock. Owen dismissed it, it was only him thinking about what Mel had said. He was overreacting to being told he was lucky to be alive.

"Terribly sorry you had to see that," he began. "Mel and I butt heads rather often really. Now, I'm sorry, but after all that back there, I have a lot of work to do. You gentlemen are more than welcome to come along. I'm sure Freddy will be able to answer any questions you may—" Cale cut him off.

"That's very kind of you, but if you'll excuse me, Mr. Bridges, I just want to go back to my room for a while. I need to wind down some." Cale made an apologetic gesture and walked toward to hotel entrance. Liam, who had recovered a bit, nodded his head at Owen and followed the other man.

Owen watched them go, pleased. Now he could put his plans into motion without having them in his hair. He motioned to Freddy and got in the driver's seat of the remaining SUV.

As he pulled out onto the road, he picked up the car phone and called Randall. The man answered, sounding tired.

"Hello?"

"Randall, it's Owen. We've had some problems with the elves. I need you to go down there and see what's going on," Owen said. There was a pause on the other end.

"Okay. What kind of problems? Is this like yesterday when they wouldn't let me through?" He asked.

"Sort of. Our genius of an actor hit on one of the females, and now they've shut the gates. I want you to go down there and see what they want. I won't have my park ruined because of one actor and an insult to the elves. There's got to be something they want that would fix this little problem," he explained.

"Gotcha. I'll go down there now. Where will you be?"

Owen thought a second. "I'll be at Mordor." There came a grunt from the other end then the line clicked off. Owen put the phone down and turned down the road to the command center. He had some work to do.

Forty-five minutes later, while Owen was seated at a computer, poring over the park's security systems, Randall bust through the doors. Owen looked up and saw the arms master walk, pale-faced, into the room.

"Randall?" Owen asked, worried that the elves had dome something to him. The man walked quickly up to the desk and knelt down.

"What'd you find?" he asked quietly. "Are you okay?"

The man spoke quietly, so no one around could hear but Owen. "They've delivered us an ultimatum," he whispered. Owen's eyed went wide. He leaned in closer.

"What do they want?"

The arms master hesitated a minute, not looking at Owen. "They want us out by five today…or they start attacking."

Owen first registered shock, then anger. Then he remembered something, something critical.

"Wait! The choppers won't be back for another two days! The boat's gone, getting supplies. There's no way off the island!" he exclaimed.

Randall looked him square in the eye, fear showing plainly there. "I know. They know that too."

* * *

A/N- So, that was a good deal shorter than I had anticipated. And I hope it wasn't too corny at the end. I didn't get a chance to have someone look at it beforehand. And as always, please tell me what you think. I really want to know, good or bad. Anyway, thanks!!! 


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